Fast-forwarding industries, how to face the challenge of talents in the micro-Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area

Ms.
Mos, Head of Marketing Department of BeiGene Bio-Island Innovation Center, is a native of Guangzhou.
After returning from studying in Singapore, she has accumulated 12 years of work experience in the field of life sciences
.

She is diligent and eager to learn, and has participated in many exchange platforms aimed at helping pharmaceutical R&D personnel to improve themselves, such as Shenyang Pharmaceutical University Yihong Business School, New Drug Founders Club,

These exchange platforms hold events in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai all year round, which to a certain extent promotes the active atmosphere of learning and discussion in the biomedical industry in the region
.

Mos, who has personally experienced and benefited from these activities, has always hoped to bring the active atmosphere to the pharmaceutical circle of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (hereinafter referred to as the "Greater Bay Area")
.

Recently, she has cooperated with R&D customers and invited colleagues in the Guangzhou pharmaceutical circle to hold academic salons from time to time

Academic Salon organized by Mos and R&D customers

Academic Salon organized by Mos and R&D customers

"Talents are the key to the development of biomedicine in the Greater Bay Area,
" said Ms.

Zhu Shaoxuan, president of the Guangzhou Biopharmaceutical Industry Association, who participated in the seminar that day

Can you keep people?

Can you keep people?

According to incomplete statistics, from 2019 to 2021, the number of biopharmaceutical enterprises in Guangzhou increased from more than 3,800 to more than 6,400, ranking third in the country after Beijing and Shanghai
.

A large number of companies have emerged, and the demand for talents has also become prominent

According to the research report of Liepin Think Tank from July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021, drug R&D, drug production/quality management personnel, clinical supervisors, and reagent/IVD R&D are popular in the Greater Bay Area Recruitment positions ranked first, fourth, seventh and tenth respectively
.

As a recruiter, 53% of companies plan to increase recruitment in 2022, especially the talents needed by innovative pharmaceutical companies
.

"The lack of international talents with rich experience is the current basic situation of the national biopharmaceutical industry
.

Talent training cannot be achieved overnight

According to the statistics of Deloitte Law Firm, at present, there are as many as seven biomedical parks in Guangzhou
.

Among them, Guangzhou Huangpu Development Zone is a key biomedical development park built by the Guangzhou Municipal Government, including Guangzhou Science City, Sino-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City, and Guangzhou International Biological Island

Guangzhou Science City has played a platform role in the development of the biomedical industry in Guangzhou
.

In its planned 12.

Sino-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City is a strategic development platform for Guangdong Province, focusing on the development of eight pillar industries: R&D services, creative industries, education and training, life and health, information technology, biotechnology, new energy and energy conservation and environmental protection, and advanced manufacturing
.

Today, there are 23,500 high-tech enterprises in the Knowledge City

Another important town of Guangzhou biomedicine - Guangzhou International Bio Island (hereinafter referred to as "Bio Island"), once a small fishing village, has now developed into a national-level bio-industry base
.
On July 8, 2011, the opening ceremony of Bio Island was held
.
Up to now, more than 200 biotechnology companies have settled in, introducing domestic and foreign biotechnology company R&D centers, biological service companies and institutions providing supporting services, and relevant financial investment institutions for investment, financing and listing IPO services
.

Although the park has formed a cohesive effect, the shortage of talents is still an unavoidable challenge (see the table below)
.

R&D customers have learned that in order to attract corresponding talents, the government has provided various R&D support policies and talent incentive programs for the industrial park, such as site subsidies, entrepreneurial talents, leading talents, high-level enterprise policies and other programs.
Chemical enterprises, the whole chain from R&D to production and listing will be rewarded
.

In the opinion of Dr.
Xia Yu, founder, chairman and CEO of Kangfang Bio, the development space of the biopharmaceutical industry cluster effect in the Greater Bay Area is huge.
It not only needs to rely on the geographical and economic advantages, but also needs to vigorously cultivate and introduce various levels talent
.

Cultivating from the source of innovation

Cultivating from the source of innovation

How to vigorously cultivate talents? In addition to the role of top-level design in gathering talents, cultivating talents from the source also needs to be promoted at the same time
.

Professor Ding Ke, the former dean of the School of Pharmacy of Jinan University, is engaged in teaching and transformation of drug research and development
.
He saw that the country attaches great importance to the cultivation of biomedical talents in colleges and universities, and the rapid development of today's biomedical technology is also promoting the construction of new disciplines in China's pharmaceutical colleges and universities
.

However, in the view of Professor Ding Ke, domestic pharmaceutical education faces three major problems:

First of all, there is still a certain distance between the curriculum design and the actual needs of the industry
.
For example, most domestic pharmacy schools are dominated by the teaching of chemistry.
He suggested that clinical medicine and biology should be combined to cultivate students' thinking of drug research and development oriented by clinical needs.
Medicine needs
.

Second, the innovative thinking of college students is insufficient
.
Due to the influence of the number of papers published by college graduates, a large number of students and tutors cannot seriously study and think.
In order to publish a large number of papers in a short period of time, they can only imitate the existing academic research results at home and abroad
.
This also causes students to have a weak academic foundation and it is difficult to generate original thinking
.
To this end, he called for the number of published papers to no longer be a restrictive condition for applying for a doctorate
.

Third, the curriculum design of colleges and universities is still relatively fragmented.
He suggested that it is necessary to systematically study pharmaceutical R&D and manufacturing engineering, and cultivate a global view and strategic thinking
.
At the same time, he suggested that students and teachers actively learn cutting-edge knowledge and technologies related to pharmaceutical R&D, and actively think about how to solve problems in today's industry, such as how to improve APROTAC technology, etc.
, and not only limit to major courses
.

"Whether it is in the Greater Bay Area or the whole country, we need to cultivate talents with solid foundation, broad knowledge, strong adaptability and innovative spirit.
We need to
prepare talents for China to lead the world's drug research and development
.
" Professor Ding Ke said
.

There are also some domestic specialties and disciplines in Guangdong universities
.
For example, the Department of Biostatistics of Southern Medical University was established on June 6, 2005, which is the first biostatistics department in China
.
The 12th class of students who have graduated now have become the backbone of biostatistics for well-known pharmaceutical companies and CROs at home and abroad
.

"Domestic students must pay attention to the cultivation and training of thinking logic and systematic analysis ability, ask why in everything, and consciously cultivate their innovative and exploratory spirit in scientific research
.
" Professor Chen Pingyan, the head of the Department of Biostatistics, said
.

Preclinical and clinical research talents need to be cultivated

Preclinical and clinical research talents need to be cultivated

Dr.
Wang Tingchun, the founder and chairman of Guangzhou Boji Pharmaceutical, a preclinical research CRO company, told R&D guests that it is not easy for a listed pharmaceutical R&D company like Guangzhou Boji Pharmaceutical to recruit first-class pharmacology and toxicology talents
.

In the four aspects of pharmacodynamics research, pharmacology research, pharmacokinetic research and toxicology research, Dr.
Wang Tingchun hopes that enterprises can cooperate with pharmacy colleges and universities, so that students can study in companies and enterprises as soon as possible, combining theory and practice, Accelerate talent cultivation
.

In clinical trials, whether a clinical trial can be successful or not depends on the principal investigator.
The younger generation of researchers in China urgently needs to grow up
.
Professor Wu Yilong, the lifelong director of Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital and the honorary director of Guangdong Lung Cancer Research Institute, attaches great importance to the training of young researchers
.
He believes that young doctors should have an interdisciplinary thinking and not let fixed thinking limit thinking about the future
.
In the development of new drugs, we should start with clinical practice and see what patients need to design trials
.
For more than ten years, Professor Wu Yilong's Guangdong Lung Cancer Research Institute has trained nearly 100 graduate students or postdoctoral fellows
.
"China's young researchers should try a path that others have not taken
.
"

As the head of the institution, Professor Xu Chongyuan, director of the National Drug Clinical Trials Office of the Southern Hospital of Southern Medical University, planned to carry out CRC and CRA training courses for clinical trial practitioners two years ago
.

Clinical trials need to strictly implement GCP, and at the same time have good communication skills and the ability to deal with adverse drug reactions/events to ensure the quality and progress of clinical trial projects
.
But at present, clinical trials have not yet formed a special discipline in Chinese universities
.
Xu Zhongyuan hopes that through systematic training, the front-line personnel of CRC, CRA and other clinical trials can be well reserved in colleges and universities, and even vocational education certificates can be issued
.

From an enterprise point of view, Yang Qin, general manager of Guangzhou Mingkang Biopharmaceuticals, who spent 15 years making the thrombolytic biological drug Mingfule, was deeply touched
.
She said at the forum jointly held by Tigermed and Flint Creation that the biggest challenge for domestic biopharmaceutical companies lies in the lack of medical directors who master clinical trial design, biostatistics talents, and PIs who can communicate with CDEs and research institutions on a scientific level.
Professional talents, which belong to the core key link of clinical trials, are particularly urgently needed
.

Mingkang Bio has now been acquired by CSPC, and its new thrombolytic drug, Recombinant Human TNK Tissue Plasminogen Activator Mingfule, has just completed the enrollment of more than 1,400 new indication registration clinical trials
.

At present, more than 80 clinical studies are being carried out in the world, and the team members are growing rapidly.
So far, there are more than 1,800 people, including more than 750 people in R&D and clinical teams
.
Companies like Kangfang are not in the minority
.
With the expansion of the research pipeline, the demand for clinical talents is more urgent
.

MAH system offers opportunities

MAH system offers opportunities

On October 23, 2017, the former State Food and Drug Administration implemented the Drug Marketing Authorization Holder (MAH) system, providing opportunities for CMO/CDMO companies in the Greater Bay Area
.

According to relevant experts of Bio Island, due to the lack of quality experience in the drug system of most enterprises, the lack of production experience of employees in biological drug production enterprises, and the average experience of employees in the production line is less than two years, making relevant talents become the "sweet pastry" in the eyes of everyone.

.

In order to solve this situation, in March 2020, the Guangzhou Development Zone Government, Ireland's National Institute of Biotechnology Research and Training (NIBRT) and Cytiva jointly established the Guangzhou Biomanufacturing Technology Research and Training Institute
.

As the first base in China that focuses on the cultivation of bio-manufacturing production talents, the training academy will focus on cultivating applied talents for the commercialization and production of bio-pharmaceutical enterprises.
development
.
It is particularly worth mentioning that the training academy will provide students with biopharmaceutical process training courses that simulate standard production environments, using Cytiva's production and manufacturing equipment, covering everything from upstream large-scale cell culture to downstream membrane filtration, chromatography purification, etc.
Production technology and biotechnology drug quality control technical training
.

In Kangfang Bio, its production and supporting system personnel exceed 360, and the number of commercialization personnel exceeds 500
.
With the progress of clinical development, the commercialization and clinical drug demand of Kangfang have surged.
The first phase of the Sino-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City Biopharmaceutical Base Project of Kangfang Bio has successfully put into production with a production capacity of 20,000 liters, which effectively solved the drug demand
.
The total planned production capacity of Kangfang Biotechnology exceeds 160,000 liters, which means a large number of professional talents are needed
.

On the one hand, Kangfang Bio has established a mature talent training and development system.
On the other hand, the company also expects the multi-party cooperation of the government, universities or enterprises to cultivate more proficient antibody drug production technology for the Greater Bay Area and achieve Internationally regulated and standard biomanufacturing talent
.

"Confidence and competence are more important than anything else"

"Confidence and competence are more important than anything else"

Regarding talents, Dr.
Liu Jian, CEO of BeiGene Bio Island Innovation Center and chairman of BeiGene Biopharmaceutical Company, has a different view
.

Dr.
Liu Jian has worked in the United States for more than 20 years and Shanghai for 7 years.
He came to Guangzhou more than 3 years ago to lead the construction of a macromolecule production base in Guangzhou
.
He has also faced the challenge of difficult talent recruitment, but he feels that this is not a problem unique to the Greater Bay Area
.

"If you always imagine that Guangzhou Biomedicine is not good or bad, it may be difficult to succeed
.
Confidence is more important than anything else
.
" In his view, the Guangzhou Municipal Government has made a lot of efforts to attract and retain talents, while BeiGene Guangzhou Company also addressed the actual needs of employees who settled in Guangzhou in terms of housing, children's education, and welfare benefits
.

At present, BeiGene Guangzhou has about 700~800 staff members, including the team of scientists and R&D, clinical, production, marketing and sales personnel of BeiGene Bio Island Innovation Center.
Live talent
.

"Let's not always complain that we can't find talents.
The person in charge of the company may think about whether he has a valuable platform, has core R&D pipelines and production technology, and can attract everyone to join you with its own brilliance
.
" Dr.
Liu Jian If so
.

With the joint efforts of President Zhu Shaoxuan, MOS has cooperated with Shenyang Yihong Business School and is scheduled to hold the "Innovative R&D Exchange Conference under the New Situation and the Second Academic Salon of the Guangdong Liaison Office of Yihong Alumni Association" in the near future
.

"Through the joint cooperation of the government, universities, industry associations, enterprises and research institutions, we will cultivate and train a group of medical talents, manufacturing and sales talents with innovative scientific research thinking, proficient in medical theoretical knowledge, and rich clinical research experience, so as to promote the Greater Bay Area.
development of medicine
.
” said President Zhu Shaoxuan
.