Reshaping the new model of scientific research and industrial chain
-China Association for Science and Technology establishes a "white list" mechanism in the field of life sciences
The new crown epidemic has made nucleic acid detection technology well-known, how much is the cost of a test?
200 yuan or 10 yuan, 20 times the difference depends on whether the key enzyme depends on imports.
On April 19, at a press conference held by the Association of Life Sciences of the Chinese Association for Science and Technology (hereinafter referred to as the "Consortium"), Wang Xiaoning, Secretary-General of the Consortium and immunologist, told a vivid case at the meeting——
During the epidemic, due to the limited supply of key enzymes, the development and production of new diagnostic reagents for my country's new coronary pneumonia urgently needed was affected. At that time, the cost of a nucleic acid test was as high as 200 yuan, and because some Chinese enterprises had previously carried out "preventing supply" technical reserves, After the scientific research on the new crown epidemic, the cost of testing has been reduced to 10 yuan, and the company can still guarantee profits.
Key enzymes are just one of the instances where my country’s life sciences rely on imports. In order to gradually get rid of the dependence on my country’s life sciences, the China Association for Science and Technology is exploring the establishment of a “white list” mechanism in the life sciences to sort out the technologies with “stuck neck” characteristics. , In order to clarify the direction of tackling key problems.
Four major "pain points"
From medical production equipment to vaccine adjuvants, to laboratory animals, medical consumables and equipment, my country’s life sciences currently rely on imports in many links. How to achieve independent innovation in the life sciences in a strategic and step-by-step manner ?
"Through research, sorting out the'white list' is the first step." Wang Xiaoning introduced that it is the responsibility of the academic association to provide policy advice to relevant ministries and commissions through the implementation of soft topics.
To this end, relying on the Life Science Consortium of the Chinese Association for Science and Technology, the Entomological Society of China, the Chinese Society of Laboratory Animals and other units have started the research on "post-epidemic industrial chain reshaping and academic industry transformation".
After nearly a year of in-depth research, the research team visited Guangzhou, Suzhou, Shanghai, Qingdao and other places to conduct research on Guangzhou Daan Gene, Gusu Material Laboratory, and China Cardiovascular Health Alliance.
"From the front line of the grassroots level, the key technology of the'four elements' of scientific information, laboratory animals, scientific instruments and equipment, and reagents and consumables is heavily dependent on imports." The main member of the project, the director of the Shanghai Life Science Information Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yu According to Jianrong, a large amount of detailed data has been obtained through the investigation "understanding", and a special report on policy recommendations has been formed.
“During the survey, we found that the data download expenditure of colleges and universities has accounted for a considerable amount. For example, in Shanghai, four colleges and universities spent more than 30 million yuan in purchasing resources in 2019, and one of them reached 60 million yuan.” Wang Xiaoning said, Most of the reference documents required for life science research come from foreign databases, and my country lacks a complete database comparable to it, which not only spends a lot of research funds, but also makes scientific information dependent on foreign countries.
In terms of the laboratory animal industry, surveys have shown that most of the laboratory animal institutions in my country are controlled by large foreign companies, and there are many problems with the outflow of animal strains in my country and the "stuck neck" of important animal strains.
"The core technology cannot be bought, not only the lithography machine, but also the experimental animals. The lack of precious animal strains will hit the follow-up scientific research and industrial development as the source of the'cut-off'." Chinese Medicine Qin Chuan, director of the Institute of Medical Laboratory Animals of the Academy of Sciences and deputy secretary-general of the Consortium, said that the rapid advancement of new crown vaccine research and development is due to the progress of China's laboratory animals, but it is unavoidable that this field is still subject to many aspects.
In addition, the research team has also conducted detailed investigations on scientific instruments and equipment, reagents and consumables. Taking the pharmaceutical industry as an example, the investigation results show that the dependence of key production equipment, filter packs, and purification media is as high as 90%.
Form blue books and white lists to dynamically guide the direction of the industry
"After the investigation, what we want to answer is which direction is most needed in the field of life sciences." Wang Xiaoning said, this answer, ranging from a national level of planning and deployment, to a small industrial park, will be different. Draw on.
To this end, the research team will further solicit opinions and suggestions from relevant experts and companies to form a "blue book" and a "white list". The "blue book" will be published by the Science Press on the basis of a broader solicitation of opinions and revisions for the government and Social reference.
At the same time, on the basis of redefining the key technologies, the main undertaking unit of the subject will dynamically collect and sort out the list of the above-mentioned "four elements of life science research" to form a "white list", which will be dynamically managed by the research team and arranged according to priority for the government , Enterprise, college reference.
"Through the public solicitation from enterprises and colleges, the research group has formed a relatively long list. In this process, we will also dynamically solicit the opinions of experts, because some experts think that some do not need to be listed at all. If there is a dispute, we will fully investigate." Wang Xiaoning said.
According to reports, for the "white list", some high-tech parks have begun to track them continuously, aiming at the weak links of the industry, identifying the areas where the parks will start, and clarifying the direction of the transformation of scientific research results. "For a park, if it can focus on one point to form a leading industry, it will become a highlight and feature of the park, and it will also support the life science research and development chain in the park." Wang Xiaoning said.