Reportedly, China will further advance infrastructure construction of gene technology, and take multiple measures to facilitate technology application in the medical area.
Multiple heads of enterprises and research institutions in China indicate that technologies like gene testing and gene editing are mature now and will be gradually applied in areas like disease screening, treatment of cancer and chronic diseases and etc. Gene therapy is expected to grow into a market over one trillion yuan by 2030.
It is learnt that China will officially initiate the construction of the phase II project of its national genebank within 2017. China’s total gene data will be larger than the aggregate of gene data in the U.S., Europe and Japan in next five years. Meanwhile, China will move faster in establishing gene technology system and infrastructure covering gene testing and individualized precision immunization. In addition, China will roll out relevant policies to prioritize the examination of gene testing products that have been defined as innovative medical instruments, accelerate the inclusion of innovative medical service projects into the medical system, and facilitate clinical application of new technologies.
In fact, China pays great attention to the development and application of gene technologies in medical area. The Development Plan for China’s Strategic Emerging Industries during the 13th Five-Year Plan Period (2016-2020) (hereinafter referred to as the Development Plan) and the Made in China 2025 released earlier both made systematic planning and provided policy support to future development and application of gene technologies in China. For instance, the Development Plan proposes to speed up the application of gene technologies in areas like disease screening, treatment of cancer and chronic diseases and etc. on the precondition that relevant technology breakthroughs are achieved.
In contrast with traditional medical means, gene-technology-based gene therapy, more pertinent and better in treatment effect, can largely alleviate the sufferings of the patients and thus is widely supported by the industry. At present, multiple gene medical technologies have achieved substantial progress and might be put into application recently. Wang Yuquan, founding partner of Haiyin Venture Capital, predicted that critical gene medical technologies will achieve breakthroughs in recent two years and see commercial application in next three years.
Yin Ye, chief executive officer of BGI, claimed that disease screening based on gene testing technologies will be the first to be put into application. Non-invasive Prenatal Testing (NIPT) will be the first commercial application of gene testing technologies in medical area. For the pregnant, NIPT can replace amniocentesis to check birth defects and rare diseases. According to the China Birth Defects Prevention and Treatment Report (2012), there was around 17 million newborns in China every year and the total incidence of birth defects registered around 5.6 percent, which was high. The incidence of birth defects among newborns is expected to decrease as gene testing technologies are put into application.
Gene therapy technologies also see bright prospects in the treatment of cancer. Lu You, a cancer expert with the West China School of Medicine/West China Hospital of Sichuan University (WCSM/WCH), and his research team have been approved to treat lung cancer in clinical experiment with relevant gene editing technologies. What’s more, medical teams in the U.S., Europe and Japan are also trying to treat various cancers with relevant technologies. It is believed in the industry that once success is achieved in clinical experiments, the application of gene therapy will be quickened and the treatment of cancer will be largely improved.
Great expectation is also placed on gene therapy in the treatment of chronic diseases. Medical research institutions in Germany are now treating diabetics with gene technologies and stem cell treatment. The industry believed that conservatively speaking, there are around 100 million diabetics in China now, and over 400 million people are highly possible to be attacked by diabetes. What’s more, patients suffering chronic diseases like hyperlipemia, coronary heart disease and nephropathy are also large in number, suggesting great prospect of relevant medical applications.
What’s more important is that gene therapy is widely recognized by the industry as the foundation of the future development of precision medicine and biological medicine. Xu Xun, executive director of China National Genebank, claimed that technologies like gene testing and gene editing will greatly boost the development of precision medicine, make the R&D of new medicines more pertinent and largely shorten R&D process.
The National Manufacturing Strategy Advisory Committee also claimed that the development and application of gene therapy concern the development of industries like precision medicine and biological medicine. The application of gene therapy will not only actively advance the development of aforementioned industries but also boost the overall future development of China’s medical health industry.
Research reports of securities companies like China International Capital Corporation (CICC) and Zhongtai Securities believe that China has huge demand in areas like disease screening, the treatment of cancer and chronic diseases and etc. As gene therapy enters clinical application, the aforementioned three areas and relevant markets will first experience rapid growth. The market size will total 300 billion yuan by 2020.
Research made by third-party institutions like Forward Industry Research Institute shows that China’s gene therapy technologies and industrial application see sound development momentum. Equipment consumables suppliers in the upstream, gene sequencing and data services companies in the midstream, and hospitals and medicine producers in the downstream have been set up in the gene testing area, suggesting that the industry has shaped up. Supported by the state’s relevant policies, the application process of gene therapy will accelerate, and industries like precision medicine and biological medicine will rise. It is proposed in the outline of Planning for Health China 2030 released by the State Council earlier that China’s health service industry will reach a market size of 16 trillion yuan by 2030. Based on this, gene therapy market will be over one trillion yuan if medical application of gene therapy technologies can take up a market share around 10 percent by 2030.
Translated by Jennifer
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