(Yicai) May 30 -- As Hong Kong and Shanghai’s biopharmaceutical ecosystems become increasingly intertwined, Shanghai is looking to leverage Hong Kong as a “super-connector” to help local drugmakers break into global markets, according to a Shanghai government official overseeing the development of the biomedical industry.

“We want Hong Kong to take on the role of a super-connector to help both cities explore more international opportunities in the biopharma sector,” Cao Hongming, director of the biomedical department at the Shanghai Science and Technology Commission, said during the Shanghai-Hong Kong Biopharma and Life Sciences Roundtable, which was held alongside the fifth Asia Summit on Global Health in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong serves as both a super-connector and a value-adder between the Chinese mainland and global markets, said Lui Kin, chief representative for East and Central China at the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. Hong Kong can serve as a gateway, helping mainland companies achieve international growth while at the same time enabling global firms to access the mainland market through Hong Kong.

Hong Kong has robust biotech research and development capabilities, a diverse capital market and is actively developing into a global hub for medical innovation, Lui said. Shanghai offers rich clinical resources and top talent. Deep collaboration between the two cities will boost technological breakthroughs, product commercialization and global expansion, he added.

If Hong Kong could work with Southeast Asian countries to build a shared drug approval platform, it would help bring Chinese innovative drugs to local markets and address the region’s limited drug development capacity and dependence on expensive drug imports from Europe and the United States, the president of a Shanghai-based drugmaker told Yicai.

Hong Kong is a pivotal springboard for taking Chinese innovative drugs abroad, an executive at a Shanghai cell therapy company said. He hopes to see more academic exchanges in Hong Kong to raise awareness of the firm’s cell therapies among physicians across Asia, which will ultimately benefit more patients.

“We’ve established a lab in Hong Kong and have experienced first-hand how the special administrative region serves as a bridge between the mainland and international markets,” said a representative from another Shanghai biopharma firm. “We also hope Hong Kong and the mainland will ease restrictions on bio-sample exchanges to boost R&D collaboration.”

“The council is using a number of initiatives to help mainland companies go global. Our platform aims to bring all parties together for enhanced cooperation,” Patrick Lau, vice president of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, told Yicai.

Editor: Kim Taylor