As a gathering area for the development of Shanghai's biopharmaceutical industry, Zhangjiang High tech Park benefits from various advantages such as excellent innovation and entrepreneurship ecology, complete industrial chain, and gathering of talent resources, and its innovative achievements are accelerating their listing. With the optimization and upgrading of the local entrepreneurship incubation system, the international influence of Shanghai Zhangjiang continues to increase. Not long ago, good news came from Shanghai Zedeman Pharmaceutical Technology Co., Ltd., founded by Chen Genghui, a returnee from Canada. The team's independently developed global new drug for children's eczema, Zelimei Cream, has been approved through the priority review and approval process of the National Medical Products Administration for the treatment of atopic dermatitis (eczema) in children over 2 years old and adults. This is a microcosm of Zhangjiang's biopharmaceutical industry. Nowadays, more and more new drugs are emerging from China to serve the needs of patients worldwide. Chen Genghui is considered a veteran on the road of starting a business again. The new drug launched this time was the "first shot" he fired after coming to Zhangjiang, Shanghai. Prior to this, he had started a business in Canada and also founded a company upon returning to China, but ultimately left. Zelimi cream is a non hormonal topical medication with a novel mechanism of action and target, and is also the world's first aromatic hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) modulator approved for the treatment of atopic dermatitis in children and adults over 2 years old Chen Genghui's words were full of confidence. 20 days after the approval of this drug in China, the US FDA also approved the market application for the same indication of this type of drug, marking that China's AhR innovative drug research field is at the forefront of the world. After studying medicine for nearly 30 years, he felt very uplifted at this moment. In the 1990s, Chen Genghui, who was pursuing a PhD in biology at Simon Fraser University in Canada, worked with his team members to isolate a small molecule compound called stilbene from the metabolic product of a symbiotic bacterium of a soil nematode. Based on its biological activity, the compound was ultimately used to study the treatment of psoriasis. Psoriasis is often referred to as "psoriasis" in folk culture. As a chronic skin disease, psoriasis is prone to recurrent attacks and difficult to cure. In the past, topical medications for treating psoriasis mainly included glucocorticoids and vitamin D3 derivatives represented by calcipotriol. After the invention of calcitriol, its effectiveness was greatly improved. Therefore, vitamin D3 derivatives even became the 'gold standard' for non hormonal drugs at that time, but their use also had potential side effects, "said Chen Genghui. Is there a plan with fewer side effects to choose from? At that time, following the ideas of his predecessors, Chen Genghui also considered making the discovered compounds into in vivo drugs. However, in subsequent research, he found that drugs were quickly metabolized after entering the human body, making it difficult to achieve the desired effect. How to solve metabolic disorders? Chen Genghui said that on second thought, fast metabolism means low exposure to the system, which may reduce the possibility of side effects. The team members immediately agreed to change this medicine to topical use on the skin. The road to new drug research and development is long. When it comes to this entrepreneurial timeline, Chen Genghui still remembers each milestone vividly: in 1999, Chen Genghui, his classmate Li Jianxiong, and his mentor Webster officially founded a company in Canada, obtained the patent approval for Benweimod, and began research and development on it. One year later, Chen Genghui returned to China and went to Shenzhen to establish a pharmaceutical company, conducting research simultaneously between China and Canada. In 2003, SARS ravaged the world, posing a huge challenge to the public health and epidemic prevention system. More overseas returnees began to turn their attention to the research and development of new drugs. That year, at the age of 40, Chen Genghui began to seriously consider returning to China for comprehensive development. On the one hand, the surge of international students returning to China to start businesses has excited him greatly; On the other hand, traveling between the two countries all year round often brings a sense of exhaustion to the wanderers. He is waiting for an opportunity. The road to new drug development is long and arduous. In 2009, in the 10th year of Chen Genghui's first entrepreneurship, he obtained the clinical approval for Benweimod in China. That year, he left Canada and returned home wholeheartedly to start his own business. At the beginning of returning to China to start a business, Chen Genghui, who came from a research background, experienced the "pains" of identity transformation. Doing research and leading a team to start a business are very different. In foreign countries, drug research and development is a 'marathon', often a team of people doing a small section and then handing it over to the next team. But entrepreneurship is different. Entrepreneurial teams have to run this marathon in one breath. From invention and creation to clinical testing, from finding experts to finding funding, everything needs to be learned. Fortunately, one of the biggest advantages of teams with a research background is their strong learning ability, "Chen Genghui said happily. From 2009 to 2016, Chen Genghui immersed himself in clinical trials and invited Zhang Jianzhong, the director of the Department of Dermatology at Peking University People's Hospital, to lead the clinical trial of Benweimod. Over 1200 patients participated in a total of three phases of the clinical trial. In the summer of 2019, with the continuous support of the National Science and Technology Major Project for "Major New Drug Creation", Benweimod was approved for market by the National Medical Products Administration after undergoing priority review and approval procedures. In the measurement of life, 10 years is enough to change the world. Two 10 years have passed by in a blink of an eye, and those who make medicine are enjoying it. Increasing investment in innovation, Chen Genghui, who started his third business, has changed his identity and city, but the entrepreneurial spirit has not changed. This time, the new drug brought by Chen Genghui was accepted for market application in December 2023, included in priority approval in January 2024, and approved for market in November of the same year. The successful approval in such a short period of time is due to the drug review reform and the increasingly mature environment for biopharmaceutical innovation. After returning to China to start his own business for many years, Chen Genghui traveled to multiple first tier cities. Eventually, growing up in Hunan, he decided to stay in the south and embark on the next chapter of his entrepreneurial journey in Shanghai. The business environment here is very good, and at the same time, it is crucial to gather funds and talents, which are important aspects related to the success or failure of new drug research and development. Objectively speaking, the cost of employing personnel here is high, but we are worth it. "According to data released in November last year, more than two-thirds of the top 10 global pharmaceutical and medical equipment companies and more than one-third of the top 100 national pharmaceutical companies have established their presence in Zhangjiang, Shanghai. Gathering innovative service resources for the entire life science industry chain, the local area is continuously improving the innovation ecosystem to facilitate the emergence of innovative achievements. The entrepreneurial ecosystem is constantly improving, and overseas returnees can better equip themselves to continue their journey. We will continue to increase investment in innovative research and development, hoping to launch more new and good drugs to benefit patients, "said Chen Genghui. (New Society)