On 23 November the 2023 national biopharmaceutical round of the 12th China Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition opened in Taizhou. Yi Xu, an official of an institution directly under the Ministry of Science and Technology; Xinmin Zhang, director of the China National Centre for Biotechnology Development; Lifan Zhu, party secretary of Taizhou; and officials from the centre, the Taizhou development and reform commission, the Taizhou science and technology bureau and the Taizhou medical high-tech zone attended.
After competition Westlake Pharmaceuticals emerged with an excellent enterprise award. Its entry — discovery and industrialisation of the original drug Mprosevir® — drew strong recognition from the judges.
Dr. Dongdong Liang, Chief Operating Officer, represented the company and presented the first product, the original anti-coronavirus drug Mprosevir®, explaining its mechanism, product characteristics and development history.
Mprosevir® is a non-covalent inhibitor with a novel structure that binds the coronavirus 3CL protease and blocks viral replication. The drug has completed Phase 3 trials: the team took an original drug from first discovery to completed clinical trials in about three years, far faster than industry norms.
The competition, themed “innovation leads, entrepreneurship builds dreams”, is guided by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Education, the Cyberspace Administration of China and the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce. Some 5,937 biopharmaceutical companies entered this year and 327 reached the national round.
Over 12 years the competition has attracted more than 320,000 companies and teams. This award reflects recognition of what Westlake Pharmaceuticals has achieved and of its potential. The company will keep focusing on original drug discovery.