A 20-year overview of breakthrough technologies in life sciences: From evolution
Driven by the need for survival and curiosity about life, humans have embarked on a journey to explore the mysteries of life since the beginning of their existence. Initially, people mostly observed and described nature, with the typical example being the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, who classified various animals and plants more than two thousand years ago. Moving forward, the approach was "to understand through the study of things," based on persistent and multi-dimensional observations of nature, people began to try to analyze and summarize the laws within it, such as the British scientist Darwin, who proposed the theory of biological evolution in 1859. The most crucial turning point occurred in 1866, when the Austrian biologist Mendel used more than 30,000 pea plants to propose the laws of genetics, laying an important foundation for modern genetics. Since then, people have not been satisfied with the observation of natural history and the summary of laws, but have started to explore the essence of life and the mysteries of inheritance tirelessly.
In 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick published the "DNA double helix structure" in "Nature," a groundbreaking achievement that marked a new stage of development in life sciences, and research in molecular biology has surged. Decades later, in Beijing Zhongguancun, which is committed to technology and innovation, a golden DNA double helix sculpture named "Life" has become a landmark building, symbolizing the endless vitality of life sciences.
Today, life sciences not only satisfy human curiosity and answer the mechanism of life processes, but also "fly into the homes of ordinary people." All aspects of people's daily lives, including diet and daily life, are closely related to life sciences. A series of fields such as food, bioenergy, and the ecological environment are also inseparable from life science and technology.
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At the same time, with the continuous improvement of living standards, "when the granary is full, people know etiquette," people no longer just pursue three meals a day, but also have high demands for the quality of life: the rise of the ingredient party in the skincare industry, the entry of organic food into the diet, and the fitness industry carries out "aerobic" and "anaerobic" training according to demand... Scientific and healthy living concepts are quietly changing modern people.
The unexpected epidemic has raged globally, further promoting people's pursuit of a healthy life. How many people miss the life without wearing masks, and the ordinary days before the epidemic seem to have become a luxury, and people have a deeper understanding of "health is a kind of freedom." How to cure diseases? How to live a healthy life? All the answers come back to the source of the problem - life.The 21st century is the century of life sciences. In just 20 years, a large number of basic research and advanced technologies related to life sciences have made rapid progress in various fields. Among the 200 global breakthrough technologies selected by MIT Technology Review over the past 20 years, there are as many as 52 technologies related to life sciences, accounting for more than 25%, which is astonishing.
The vigorous development of sub-field technologies
From the fields involved in the selected technologies, we can see that a rich and diverse range of application scenarios has allowed life science and technology to evolve into multiple branches. Since the beginning of the 21st century, with imagination about the essence of life, organisms have been gradually magnified from the whole to the tissue level, the cell level, and then to the molecular level. People have carried out comprehensive research around biological macromolecules such as sugars, metabolites, proteins, and genes.
Firstly, the independent omics technologies for analyzing various biological macromolecules have been rapidly established, such as glycomics, metabolomics, proteomics, and genomics. In addition to the development of their respective fields, the interactions between different biological macromolecules and the overall research have also promoted the establishment of advanced technologies such as comparative interactomics and single-cell analysis. With such a multi-pronged approach, the independent and joint important roles of biological macromolecules in life activities have been reflected, laying the foundation for the diagnosis and prediction of various diseases.
Among the omics, genomics stands out. The iterative development of DNA sequencing technology has helped people fully understand the vast genome sequences. The structure, function, evolution, localization, and editing of the genome are continuously characterized. Derived technologies such as personal genomics, $100 genome sequencing, single-cell sequencing, and cancer genomics have made it possible for people to diagnose potential diseases quickly, efficiently, and at a low cost, bringing "personalized" medical measures into the public eye. In response to sudden outbreaks, in addition to the assistance of sequencing technology, many fields of life sciences have also responded quickly. As mentioned earlier, the mRNA vaccine technology in 2021 and the new coronavirus oral medication in 2022 have made the virus nowhere to hide, from prevention to treatment. In addition, the breakthrough progress made by the malaria vaccine in 2022 has also given people a bright future in overcoming parasitic infectious diseases such as malaria.In addition, thanks to the analysis of various diseases by multiple omics technologies, people have also begun to look for fundamental solutions to various diseases. For example, genome editing and gene therapy 2.0 technologies have made diseases originating from genes (such as thalassemia and sickle cell anemia) solvable at the source; facing infectious diseases (such as COVID-19 and malaria), in addition to controlling the source of infection, it is also worth trying to improve human immunity at the genetic level to achieve the prevention of infectious diseases in the future; cancer and more common common diseases, related gene therapy experiments are also being carried out at full speed.
Demand drives the warming of the technological revolution.
In the global market, the field of life sciences is also favored by capital. For example, by the end of 2021, the market size related to synthetic biology reached 73.7 billion US dollars, widely used in medical, chemical, food, and agricultural fields; microfluidic biochips have shown great performance in the fields of gene sequencing, drug screening, and point-of-care testing.
In the past few years, the pandemic has had varying degrees of impact on countries, industries, and individuals worldwide. Looking at the selection results of "Top 10 Breakthrough Technologies in the World", bio-pharmaceutical technologies related to the COVID-19 pandemic have also become the main characters in the field of life sciences in the past two years. In 2021, mRNA vaccines were selected as "Top 10 Breakthrough Technologies in the World"; and in 2022, there are 4 technologies in the field of life sciences among the 10 selected technologies, including "Oral COVID-19 Drugs", "AI Protein Folding", "Malaria Vaccine", and "COVID-19 Variant Tracking", with 2 related to the COVID-19 pandemic.In the midst of this, mRNA vaccines have rapidly developed in less than a year since the outbreak of the pandemic. They have undergone clinical trials and were granted an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) by the U.S. FDA (Food and Drug Administration) in 2021, followed by formal approval. To date, mRNA vaccines from companies such as BioNTech and Moderna have played a significant role in global pandemic prevention and control.
The emergence of oral medications for COVID-19 has also brought good news for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. Undoubtedly, prevention and control measures for the COVID-19 pandemic and innovation in drug development are the focus of research in the field of life sciences at present and in the future, and we will surely see more and more technologies and drugs related to epidemic prevention and control being introduced.
Policy Boosts Industry Takeoff
At present, several countries around the world have regarded life science and technology as a strategic technological reserve for the nation. In the early 21st century, developed countries such as the United States, Russia, and Japan have formulated relevant science and technology plans. Although the development plans of each country vary, it can be seen that all countries attach great importance to the development of life sciences.
Life sciences have also received unprecedented attention in our country. In fact, as early as 2009, the State Council issued the "Several Policies to Promote the Accelerated Development of the Bioindustry," providing guidance for the development of biotechnology drugs, bio-medical materials, and so on. By 2016, the development of life science and technology was written into the "13th Five-Year Plan for the Development of National Strategic Emerging Industries." Subsequently, the Ministry of Science and Technology (referred to as the Ministry of Science and Technology), the National Development and Reform Commission (referred to as the National Development and Reform Commission), the Ministry of Finance, and other departments have successively issued multiple documents to promote the development of China's life science industry from multiple dimensions.For the development of life science and technology, the 21st century is undoubtedly the best era, with many technologies shining in their respective application scenarios. Over the past 20 years, this fact has been verified in multiple sub-technical fields. Cellular and Gene Therapy (CGT), immuno-vaccines, bio-pharmaceuticals-tumor drugs, brain science-neuroscience, synthetic biology, and others have all become the darlings of the capital market, and have shown tremendous application potential and considerable market prospects.
Cellular and Gene Therapy continues to break through, with promising prospects
Cellular and Gene Therapy (CGT) is currently the most promising new method for treating cancer. This therapy transfers specific genetic material into the patient's target cells, modifying or repairing abnormal genes by gene addition, gene correction, gene silencing, etc.; or using the patient's own or allogeneic adult stem cells, after a series of biotechnological engineering methods such as acquisition, separation, culture amplification, and screening, it is re-infused into the patient's body to repair tissues and organs, thereby achieving the purpose of curing diseases.
Compared with traditional tumor treatment methods, such as surgical treatment, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy, CGT based on gene technology and cell technology is more targeted, not only can it achieve more ideal treatment effects, but it can also greatly reduce the pain of patients during the treatment process, and its development prospects are widely favored by the market.Cell therapy can generally be divided into stem cell therapy and immune cell therapy. Clinical data for stem cell therapy is relatively abundant. In recent years, the number of new stem cell clinical studies worldwide has been stable at around 400 per year, with the number of clinical studies in our country steadily increasing, and the proportion of global stem cell clinical research continuously rising. Nearly 70% of these clinical studies use stem cells derived from bone marrow, peripheral blood, and hematopoietic stem cells and mesenchymal stem cells from the umbilical cord.
From a clinical data perspective, the United States is far ahead of other countries and regions, with the European Union and China following closely behind. In addition, clinical research in countries such as Canada, South Korea, and Japan is also quite active.
On the other hand, clinical data for immune cell therapy also shows a significant increase.
Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy uses gene editing methods to modify T cells into CAR-T, injecting CAR-T into the patient's body, and efficiently killing tumor cells with the corresponding specific antigens through immune action, thereby achieving the purpose of treating malignant tumors.
In recent years, CAR-T therapy has shown good targeting, killing, and persistence in clinical tumor treatment through continuous optimization and improvement. It is a new type of cell therapy that is precise, fast, efficient, and has the potential to cure cancer, showing great development potential and a wide range of application prospects.Nowadays, with the rise of immune cell therapies represented by CAR-T therapy and T cell receptor-engineered T cells (TCR-T), the number of clinical studies has gradually increased, especially the clinical research of CAR-T therapy, which is growing at an average annual rate of nearly 40%, showing an explosive trend. Taking the four common immune cell therapies as examples, namely CAR-T therapy, TCR-T therapy, tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) therapy, and autologous cell immunotherapy (Cytokine-Induced Killer, CIK) therapy, the scale of clinical research in the United States and China far exceeds that of other countries and regions, presenting a "dual dominance" pattern. Among them, the clinical research of immune cell therapy carried out by China and the United States is mainly focused on CAR-T, and the number of CAR-T product clinical trials conducted by China is the first in the world.
During the development process, vector delivery technology, gene editing technology, and CAR-T technology have all achieved iterative innovation. Among them, one of the most popular technologies in the CGT treatment field: Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) gene editing technology, has made gene editing enter an explosive development stage. The inventors of this technology - French scientist Emmanuelle Charpentier and American scientist Jennifer A. Doudna, won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2020.
The maturity of technology has promoted the further popularization of CGT applications. At present, the coverage of CGT indications is continuously increasing, and market demand is also growing rapidly. L.E.K. data shows that from 2016 to 2020, the compound annual growth rate of the number of patients receiving CGT was 35%-40%; it is expected that the compound annual growth rate from 2020 to 2025 may reach up to 25%.
CB Insights predicts that by 2025, the global CGT market size will reach $29 billion, with a compound annual growth rate of about 19.70%.
As of February 2021, CGT indications have covered fields such as oncology, ophthalmology, hematology, inflammation and autoimmune diseases, nervous system, cardiovascular, etc., and the proportion is continuously increasing. Among them, the highest coverage ratio is in oncology, reaching as high as 39%.The CGT industry is also accelerating its output. To date, multiple CGT products have been approved for use in various countries around the world, including CAR-T therapy, stem cell therapy, and adenoviral gene therapy, among others. In addition, looking at the distribution of clinical stages of global CGT products, as of February 2021, the products in Phase 1 clinical trials accounted for the largest proportion, at 55%, followed by Phase 2 products, accounting for 36%, and Phase 3 products accounted for 9%.
Since 2015, the number of clinical trials for CGT in China has also seen an explosive growth. According to data from the consulting firm Frost & Sullivan, between 2015 and 2020, China has conducted approximately 250 CGT clinical trials, second only to the United States in terms of quantity; the compound annual growth rate exceeded 60%, ranking first globally.
Although the development time of China's CGT industry is relatively short, under the background of technological innovation and policy support, relevant achievements are also emerging continuously. To date, China has successively issued multiple policies related to the development of gene therapy and cell therapy.
Among them, the "13th Five-Year National Science and Technology Innovation Plan" released by the State Council in 2016 and the "13th Five-Year Bio-Industry Development Plan" released by the National Development and Reform Commission in 2017 both provided incentive policies for the industrial development in the field of gene therapy. The most recent policy is the "14th Five-Year Bio-Economy Development Plan" released by the National Development and Reform Commission in May 2022, which clearly points out the need to focus on the development of new technologies such as gene diagnosis and treatment, stem cell therapy, and immune cell therapy.
The promising development prospects, coupled with policy "benefits," have also made CGT a favorite in the capital market. Since 2015, there have been frequent financing and merger and acquisition events in the industry. According to statistics from L.E.K., the scale of financing and mergers and acquisitions in the CGT industry has grown from about 8 billion US dollars in 2017 to about 20 billion US dollars in 2020.CGT has been developed and applied overseas for many years, and has given rise to a number of representative leading companies, such as Novartis Group and Roche Company. Among them, Novartis Group was established in 1996, and the company focuses on the development and transformation of three fields of CGT: therapies based on Adeno-Associated Virus (AAV), CAR-T therapy, and CRISPR-based technology. From the data, the annual revenue of Novartis Group's CGT products has grown rapidly since 2019, from $76 million in 2018 to $639 million in 2019, and even achieved an annual revenue of $1.394 billion in 2020; the compound annual growth rate from 2018 to 2020 is as high as 328%.
Domestically, the CGT field has also attracted multi-party layout, investment, and financing activities. According to the Sullivan report, the amount of venture capital and financing in China's CGT field reached $3.86 billion in 2020, an increase of about 50% compared to $2.586 billion in 2019.
Cell and gene therapy companies are also favored by capital, among which the listed company WuXi AppTec has completed three rounds of financing in 2018-2020 for three consecutive years. Before going public on the Hong Kong stock market, WuXi AppTec completed a total financing of about $284 million; the biopharmaceutical company Kite Pharma also raised more than $280 million in total financing before its IPO (Initial Public Offering).
The development of tumor-targeted drugs is rapid.
Affected by environmental degradation, social pressure, and unhealthy lifestyles, the number of cancer patients worldwide is increasing rapidly.On the one hand, the number of new cancer patients is growing, and the types of cancer are becoming increasingly diverse; on the other hand, traditional cancer treatment methods have many limitations. Therefore, the field of cancer treatment urgently needs "new blood." With the development of technologies such as gene sequencing and gene editing, targeted cancer therapy has become one of the new therapies that has attracted much attention in the field of medical science.
So-called targeted cancer therapy refers to the design of corresponding therapeutic drugs at the cellular molecular level, targeting the identified carcinogenic sites (protein molecules or gene fragments), so that they can bind to the carcinogenic sites after entering the body and take effect. Targeted cancer therapy, because of its high precision and low toxicity, has become one of the new anti-cancer therapies that are widely favored, and targeted drugs have also ushered in rapid development.
CB Insights data shows that since 2013, the total amount of financing and the number of transactions in the field of cancer immunotherapy have been on an upward trend, reaching a peak in 2015 and 2018 respectively, corresponding to the approval of two blockbuster drugs - PD-1 and CAR-T.
Targeted drugs have the advantages of high specificity and low side effects, and have significant therapeutic effects on a variety of malignant tumors. They are considered to be the most promising drugs to "conquer" cancer and have also become the mainstream of new anti-tumor drugs in recent years. IQVIA data predicts that by 2025, the expenditure on cancer immunotherapy drugs is expected to exceed 50 billion US dollars.
The history of using targeted cancer drugs in the overseas market has exceeded 20 years. From 1997 to 2020, the US FDA has approved a total of 184 anti-tumor drugs (excluding auxiliary drugs) to be marketed, of which targeted anti-tumor drugs account for about 65%. Data shows that in the past nearly 20 years, the proportion of targeted drugs in the entire cancer drug market has been increasing year by year. In 2022, the proportion of targeted cancer drugs was about 73%.In our country, targeted cancer drugs are also rapidly developing, and domestic policies on new drug approval and medical insurance have also given strong support. Among them, on December 28, 2020, the National Healthcare Security Administration announced the 2020 National Medical Insurance Drug Catalogue, which included 49 new targeted cancer drugs covered by medical insurance.
The policy dividends and market demand have also attracted many Chinese domestic pharmaceutical companies to successively layout in the field of cancer drugs. At present, the main listed companies in the cancer drug manufacturing industry include: Fosun Pharma, Hengrui Medicine, Yibai Pharmaceutical, Beta Pharma, Junshi Biosciences, Harbin Pharmaceutical Group, and Laimei Pharmaceutical, etc.
Synthetic Biology Boom
Synthetic Biology is a cutting-edge research direction in the field of biology today, and synthetic biology technology is gradually replacing traditional chemical synthesis to become an important way of "green synthesis" in global medical health, food and beverages, chemical industry, materials and other fields. Compared with traditional chemical synthesis, synthetic biology technology has the advantages of renewable raw materials, low carbon emissions, high efficiency, environmental friendliness, and high safety.The extensive and diverse application scenarios have brought a huge market space for synthetic biology. At the same time, various new technologies, such as ultra-high-throughput screening platforms for object design, enzymatic DNA synthesis, and the development of new gene editing techniques, are also driving the industry to accelerate innovation. The considerable market prospects of synthetic biology are also attracting global capital to enter the field.
Data from CB Insights shows that the global market size for synthetic biology in 2019 reached 5.3 billion US dollars. It is expected to reach 18.9 billion US dollars by 2024.
Since 2010, the synthetic biology industry has entered a period of rapid development, with many traditional chemical companies and emerging enterprises starting to layout in the field of synthetic biology. After 2015, the global financing scale of synthetic biology technology companies has been continuously expanding. Statistical data show that in 2020, the global financing amount for synthetic biology reached as high as 7.8 billion US dollars.
According to the statistics of CB Insights, from January 2010 to August 2020, there were a total of 391 financing events in the global field of synthetic biology. Among them, the number of financing events in 2017 was 70, which was the highest in history, and 2018 set the record for the highest financing amount, about 2.3 billion US dollars.
In our country, the field of synthetic biology has also made rapid progress in the past few years, and synthetic biology is becoming a focus of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance) investment. Data show that in 2021, the market size of China's synthetic biology was about 6.416 billion US dollars, an increase of 3.938 billion US dollars compared to 2020.Under the drive of national policies, including Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, and other provinces (regions, cities) have set relevant goals and requirements for the development of synthetic biology in their "14th Five-Year Plan".
The metaverse boosts the brain science market to billions
Among the forefront of technology fields, brain science is undoubtedly the most cutting-edge and disruptive, representing the "ultimate frontier" for human understanding of itself and the entire natural world. At present, the main economies of the world attach great importance to the development of brain science, reflecting the considerable development prospects of brain science in both policy incentives and commercial activities.
Data from CB Insights shows that the brain health market size was about 6.2 billion US dollars in 2020, and it is expected to exceed 10 billion US dollars by 2024, with a compound annual growth rate of 17% from 2020 to 2024, thus becoming the next industry that may bring disruptive impact to human society.
Globally, financing in the field of brain science has been on an upward trend in recent years; in 2021, there were 181 financing events worldwide, with a total amount of 6.764 billion US dollars. The average financing amount per event in 2021 was about 37 million US dollars. Among them, there were 110 financing events with tens of millions of US dollars, which is twice that of 2020 and three times that of 2019. Financing in China's brain science field is also on an upward trend, with a total of 54 financing events completed in 2021, with a total amount of about 1.32 billion US dollars.From January 2016 to April 2021, the number of global brain science startups receiving financing has been steadily increasing: the number of financings in 2020 increased by about 35% compared to 2016, and the total amount of financing in 2020 reached a five-year peak, exceeding 5 billion US dollars.
In terms of company stage distribution, brain science startups are mainly in the middle and early stages (before B round). Looking at the data from the past five years, although the share of B round companies has fluctuated, it has generally increased; the share of seed/angel round and A round companies has slightly fluctuated, but hit the bottom in 2020 (accounting for a total of 37%). This also indicates that early-stage brain science companies are growing and gaining the favor of investors; it also means that there is still a huge development space in this field. With the development of technology and the input of capital, perhaps the industrialization will achieve explosive growth.
In terms of company distribution, China ranks second, and the United States, the United Kingdom, South Korea, and Switzerland also have a certain proportion of brain science startups receiving financing. Overall, the market potential of brain science is huge, and startups in various countries are eager to try.
According to the latest patent data from CB Insights, the top 5 brain science-related patent content are: neurological diseases, neurophysiology, neurology diagnosis, neurotrauma, and neuroscience.
Looking at the application model of brain science research, the primary application field will inevitably focus on maintaining the development of a healthy brain and intelligence. Under the promotion of the metaverse concept, the brain-computer interface has become one of the fields with development potential. The brain-computer interface refers to the direct connection created between the human or animal brain and external devices, thereby realizing the exchange of information between the brain and the device. In the past two years, driven by the heat of the metaverse concept, the brain-computer interface has also attracted market attention.A group of tech entrepreneurs, represented by Elon Musk, are actively involved in the field of brain-computer interfaces. In their view, brain-computer interfaces are the path to the metaverse in the future, bringing a more revolutionary experience than AR and VR. Data shows that the global brain-computer interface market size reached 1.36 billion US dollars in 2019 and is expected to reach 3.85 billion US dollars by 2027, with a compound annual growth rate of about 14.3%.
As an important frontier technology field, the development of brain science is also highly valued in our country. The "China Brain Project" (CBP) was officially launched in 2016, aiming to explore the secrets of the brain, conquer brain diseases, and carry out brain-like research. During the "13th Five-Year Plan" period, Beijing and Shanghai established the Beijing Brain Science and Brain-like Research Center and the Shanghai Brain Science and Brain-like Research Center. Both have now launched regional plans for "Brain Science and Brain-like Intelligence," and have begun to fund related research projects.
In 2021, the "14th Five-Year Plan" outline also explicitly proposed to focus on fields such as life and health, brain science, and implement a batch of forward-looking and strategic national major science and technology projects. According to the "14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of the People's Republic of China and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035," during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, China's brain science and brain-like research will focus on five key areas: brain cognitive principle analysis, brain meso-scale neural connection mapping, brain major disease mechanism and intervention research, and so on.
The bright future of mRNA technologyOver the past few years, the most eye-catching topic in the field of life sciences has been the technologies and drugs related to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the mRNA vaccine being one of the shining stars, especially prominent overseas. Since the spring and summer of 2020, both the scientific research community and pharmaceutical companies have paid close attention to "messenger" RNA (mRNA) vaccines, and in 2020, two mRNA vaccines produced by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna were approved for marketing.
Data shows that in 2021, Pfizer achieved revenue of about 81.3 billion US dollars, a significant increase of about 94.01% year-on-year. That year, Pfizer provided about 2.2 billion doses of mRNA vaccines worldwide, and the COVID-19 vaccine brought the company about 36.78 billion US dollars in revenue, propelling Pfizer from the eighth place in the global pharmaceutical company revenue ranking in 2020 to the second place in the world in 2021.
Moderna's revenue for the whole year of 2021 was about 18.471 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of about 2199.12%. That year, Moderna provided about 807 million doses of mRNA vaccines worldwide, bringing in revenue of about 17.67 billion US dollars; the company's net profit was about 12.2 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of about 1733.33%.
In fact, the academic community's research on mRNA vaccines began as early as 1990. However, due to technical issues with the stability and delivery of mRNA, the progress of related research and clinical trials was not smooth until recent years, when mRNA vaccines and mRNA technology have rapidly developed in practical application fields.
Of course, mRNA technology is not only used for preventive vaccines such as COVID-19 vaccines but also for the production of therapeutic vaccines and therapeutic drugs. PubMed predicts that the market size for therapeutic vaccines in 2035 will be about 7 billion to 10 billion US dollars; the market size for therapeutic drugs in 2035 will be about 4 billion to 5 billion US dollars.In addition to COVID-19 vaccines, the emergence of oral medications has also provided significant support for epidemic prevention and control efforts. On November 4, 2021, Merck/Ridgeback's COVID-19 oral drug Molnupiravir was approved for marketing in the UK, marking the world's first oral drug for COVID-19. COVID-19 oral medications were also selected as one of the "Top Ten Breakthrough Technologies" globally in 2022.
In 2022, the domestic market also welcomed its first domestically produced oral COVID-19 medication. According to media reports, Azvudine tablets, used for the treatment of COVID-19 pneumonia, officially went into production on August 2, 2022, at the Zhenxin Biotechnology Co., Ltd. in Pingdingshan City, Henan Province.