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On October 7, local time, the Carolinska Institutet of Medicine in Sweden announced that it would award the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to scientists Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun ·· scientists Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for their discovery of microRNA and its role in post-transcriptional gene regulation. This discovery has led to a new understanding of gene regulation. The two winners will equally share the prize money of 11 million Sweden kronor (about 7.45 million yuan).
In a press release issued on the same day, the award committee said that microRNA is a class of ribonucleic acid molecules that play a key role in gene regulation. Through their groundbreaking research on Caenorhabditis elegans, two scientists have revealed an entirely new gene regulatory mechanism that has proven to be critical for multicellular organisms, including humans. MicroRNAs are proving to be essential for the development and function of living organisms.
Sten· Linnarsson, a member of the award committee and professor at the Karolinska Institutet, said that gene regulation is a very important fundamental mechanism, and the work of the two scientists is a very important fundamental discovery, revealing a previously ununderstood mechanism that is essential for understanding the workings of our bodies.
Studies have shown that without microRNAs, cells and tissues cannot develop properly. Abnormal regulation of microRNA can also lead to cancer, and mutations in genes encoding microRNA have been identified in humans that can cause diseases such as congenital hearing loss and eye and bone abnormalities.
It is understood that gene regulation and microRNA belong to the field of the biomedical industry. Gene regulation is the mechanism that controls gene expression in organisms, involving the transcription of genes and the translation process of messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA), and microRNA participates in the regulation of post-transcriptional gene expression in animals and plants, which has a profound impact on the traceability of disease pathogenesis, early and accurate diagnosis of diseases, and the development of biomedicine.
With the continuous development of science and technology, the field of biomedicine has made great breakthroughs and progress, and has become the focus of global attention. Countries have increased investment and support in the field of biomedicine to promote the transformation of scientific research achievements and industrial development. The governments of Europe, the United States, Japan and other countries have formulated policies suitable for their own national conditions in terms of financing, taxation, patent technology transfer, etc., which have stimulated the innovation enthusiasm of enterprises and greatly promoted the development of their own biomedical industry.
From the perspective of the production process of biological drugs, it mainly includes three main processes: upstream fermentation, downstream purification and preparation filling. The upstream generally ranges from the cultivation of cell lines to large-scale bioreactor production. Downstream purification is to separate and purify the cells and products from the bioreactor to obtain the target product. Preparation filling is mainly to prepare the purified stock solution, and finally obtain the product after configuration, sterilization, filtration, filling, freeze-drying, capping, light inspection, labeling and packaging.
Under the combined influence of factors such as aging, social medical and health expenditure, and R&D investment, the global pharmaceutical market has maintained steady growth in the past. According to Frost &Sullivan, the global biopharma industry market has grown from $11 trillion in 2015 to more than $15 trillion in 2023.
In recent years, with the support of national policies, the mainland biomedical industry has gradually entered the "fast lane". From 2019 to 2023, the total market size of the mainland biopharmaceutical industry has shown a gradual upward trend, and the growth rate has declined since 2022. According to the data, in 2023, the market size of the biopharmaceutical industry in mainland China will be about 1,977.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.86%, and the CAGR from 2019 to 2023 will be 4.90%.
The biomedical industry is one of the most growing and active economic sectors in China in recent years. To this end, all parts of the country are vigorously promoting its development, and the "spark" of the biomedical industry is showing a trend of burning the prairie on the land of China. After more than 10 years of efforts, China has basically built an innovative drug incubation base with enterprises as the main body, improved the level of drug R&D and industrialization, formed a professional new drug R&D team with a certain scale, and enhanced the technological innovation ability of enterprises.
According to the analysis of the Prospective Industry Research Institute, with the expiration of a large number of patents for "blockbuster drugs" in the world, Chinese pharmaceutical companies will usher in huge development opportunities. The pandemic has increased the demand for vaccines, blood products and related reagents, and the 14th Five-Year Plan has vigorously supported the emerging industry of biomedicine. It is predicted that the market size of China's biopharmaceutical industry will grow at a compound annual growth rate of about 6.4% from 2023 to 2028, and the market size of China's biopharmaceutical industry is expected to reach 2.7 trillion yuan in 2028.
Prospective Economist APP Information Group
For more research and analysis of this industry, please refer to the "Analysis Report on the Development Prospect Forecast and Investment Strategic Planning of China's Biopharmaceutical Industry" by Qianzhan Industry Research Institute.
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