Biomedical winter: no hurry, no fear, no face

Since the pharmaceutical policy reform in 2015, China's biomedical industry has developed rapidly and achieved remarkable results in

China's capital market has also shown unprecedented enthusiasm for the biomedical industry, and the valuation of related assets has become the most expensive in the world in both primary and secondary markets, providing sufficient financial support

Catalyzed by hot money, China's biomedical companies have mushroomed

It cannot be ignored that young Chinese biomedicine is still in the stage of catching up, and as a whole, it still lacks the strength

In this case, it is all one industry, and it is naturally easy to have the same idea, and the phenomenon of many companies gathering hot targets and technologies has begun to intensify

If "entrepreneurship" and "financing" are the first half of biomedicine, then the second half is "treating diseases" and "making money"

"Making money" is a popular term for

The inner volume of "only fast and not broken" led to a poor

Medical insurance policies such as collection and national talks continue, and drug price reduction is still the main theme

Poor medical insurance policies and commercialization performance, coupled with unfavorable factors such as the epidemic, the world situation and the overall downward adjustment of the global pharmaceutical industry, Chinese biopharmaceutical companies that have recently landed in the capital market have ushered in a large-scale wave of

These cold facts tell us that the biomedical industry is intertwined, the second half is not good, and the score in the first half cannot be

Business model innovations such as the transfer of equity and sales cooperation can increase the odds of winning, but to fundamentally solve the problem, we must return to the starting point

However, biomedical innovation is facing the dilemma

Because of the problem of development time, in fact, we are still in the extreme

In the capital market, the services and supporting industries with the aura of science and technology innovation and cash income are more popular
than new drug research and development companies.
This butterfly effect has affected all parties
in the innovation ecosystem such as entrepreneurs, pharmaceutical companies and regulators.
In other words, there is no need to be too innovative, the company can still go public, and the investment can still be rewarded
.
It is not that we are not incapable of innovation, but we are afraid to innovate and unwilling to innovate
.

This cold winter tells us a truth, biomedicine is an industry
that can only survive through innovation.
Without good products, pharmaceutical companies do not make money, and in the end, no one's life will be better
.
To break the situation, we must face up to risks, increase the intensity of innovation, actively explore differentiation, and create products
with global value.

Commercially, through overseas authorization to enter the international market, to alleviate the impact of domestic medical insurance policies, so as to solve the problem
of "technology is valuable but not profitable".
Easier said than done, the key is how to achieve such a strategic goal
.
Traditional pharmaceutical companies, emerging biopharmaceutical companies (biopharm) and start-ups (start-up) have certainly different
strategies and pace of innovation according to their own characteristics.

It is generally believed that the core competitiveness of traditional pharmaceutical companies is production and commercialization capabilities
.
We say that products are king, but in fact, we are still talking about trends
.
In the current domestic market environment, the core position of the channel is difficult to shake
.

Taking PD-1 monoclonal antibody as an example, when innovation or differentiation is not enough to change the clinical status quo, the weak clinical value and first-mover advantage of the product are vulnerable in the face of strong channels
.
Therefore, it is not wrong
for pharmaceutical companies with commercialization capabilities to pay more attention to targets, technologies and directions with higher certainty for the domestic market.

Traditional pharmaceutical companies can participate in cutting-edge innovation through investment or mergers and acquisitions, but they do not have to hold absolute control and try not to participate in management
.
Differences in management and thinking between the two genes of sales and R&D can easily lead to the failure
of innovative companies.

In recent years, a group of Biotechs that started with small molecules and monoclonal antibody technologies have successfully transformed into Biopharm
.
These cutting-edge companies are the beneficiaries of this wave of biomedicine, landing on the capital market and receiving a large amount of financial support
.
At the same time, they are also direct participants and victims of the inner volume, and the passive price war has led to a significant reduction
in the market share of the product that was originally expected.

Biopharm's innovation may require a juggling of two strategies
.

On the one hand, the company has built a commercialization team from scratch, with a single product, and the cost of sales is definitely higher than that of traditional pharmaceutical companies
.
They urgently need to expand their product lines to share channel costs, so they must consider the success rate, and the battle of the inner volume must continue to fight
.
In addition to external introduction, internal also do me-too and fast tracking
.

On the other hand, they urgently need the transfer of overseas rights and interests, the expansion of the international market, and more importantly, the short-term withdrawal of funds to solve financial emergencies
.
In this way, there must be innovative, differentiated and globally valuable products in the
pipeline.
In addition to research and development, international talents and business expansion capabilities have also become indispensable core competitiveness
of the company.

Startups are the representative of innovation and cutting-edge technology, but because it is relatively easy to attract hot money, they have also become the main force
in this round of internal rolling.
Entrepreneurial teams and industry leaders with mastering key "know-how" and strong execution are favored
by capital.

In recent years, startups have rapidly filled the "tracks" of biomedical technology with the entry point of overseas introduction and follow-up innovation
.
Traditional small molecules and monoclonal antibodies are clustered on popular targets, while cutting-edge technologies such as nucleic acids, cell therapy, gene editing and artificial intelligence are very homogenized
.

Intense involution poses a double risk to startups, sharing the risk of the target being pursued and the technology that cannot be drugged, as well as the risk of lagging behind
.
Moreover, the more cutting-edge the technology, the greater the risk of
double superposition.

In the past two years, many VCs with scientific judgment have turned to more creative teams of professors and scientists, supporting the incubation
of a number of original achievements.
However, compared with Europe and the United States, China's original companies, although they avoid internal volumes to a certain extent, face unfavorable factors such as the lack of smooth paths to the transformation of results, the unclear role of scientists, the lack of experience in drug development, and the lack of professional managers
in the market.

Startups have limited resources, and they should seek innovation and change
in strategy.

If you insist on following innovation, you can also "seek cold", avoid the crowded field of fighting for money, and exchange the scientific risks for living space
.
Psychologically, all parties, including entrepreneurs and investors, must face up to the risks and accept failure
calmly.
From the experience of Europe and the United States, a successful startup generally focuses on the research and development end and focuses on its own areas
of expertise.

European and American startups generally do not have the ambition to transform pharmaceutical companies, and they send more than half of the pipeline molecules to large companies through transfer projects and cooperative development, willingly accepting the final outcome
of being acquired or even failing.

This model reduces the risk of startups, cultivates a large number of serial entrepreneurs and professional managers, and creates a good atmosphere
where failure is not terrible and can start all over again.
Investors in the primary and secondary markets have also obtained considerable returns on the macro level through asset portfolios and time friends, thus promoting the benign development
of the entire innovation ecology.

Writer Feng Tang said that "no hurry, no fear, no face" is the nine-character mantra
that has come true.
On the so-called cold winter day of China's biomedical industry, I also use these nine words to encourage
my peers.

"No rush" is the recognition of the process of
new drug development.
Although many investors say that they want to be friends of time, most of the funds established through fundraising must exit within a few years, and few are not in a hurry
.
The reality is that long cycles are the characteristics of our industry, and there is no curve to overtake
medicine.
We must enjoy the process, be patient enough, and only the spirit of craftsmanship can cultivate biomedical products
that are truly competitive.

"Not afraid" is the expectation
of the outcome.
Biomedicine cures diseases and saves people, and the return on innovation is high, but it must be high risk
.
All we can do is do our best, and as for success, we can only resign ourselves to fate
.

"Don't face" is not to disregard integrity, but to put down one's face, is to face the mentality and courage
to fail.
Since failure is the norm and success is the accident, there is no need to be devastated
by failure.
We have to ignore the noise, find people who are doing things in a down-to-earth manner, and stick to it together, because it is too worth it
.

After the cold winter, there will be a warm spring, all biomedical people, come on!