Building a translation hub for new drug candidates to foster deep integration between innovative drug R&D and industrial development.
Innovative drug development calls not only for breakthroughs in foundational technology, but also a mature system for research translation, to turn lab discoveries into commercially viable innovative products. From lab discoveries and preclinical evaluation to industrial-scale production, streamlining handoffs across stages and boosting the efficiency of drug translation has become critical for advancing the biomedical sector. Full-service platforms spanning R&D and manufacturing offer a new approach to bring drug innovations to market.
Against the trend of converging global drug discovery technologies, how can translation hubs for new drug R&D enable efficient allocation of innovation resources and industrial collaboration? How can public technology platforms bridge research breakthroughs and real business needs? Hongqiao International Science and Technology Week 2026 will examine mechanisms for drug translation and pathways toward industrialisation. It explores practical models to accelerate the rollout of novel drug candidates, alongside how the integration of “wet and computational experimentation” powers innovative drug discovery and industry growth.
Hongqiao International Science and Technology Week ⏰ Nov 20–22, 2026 📍 National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai)
The event will run from November 20 to 22, 2026 at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai). As one of the six thematic stages, the Life Science & Healthcare Stage brings together industry practitioners in life sciences, innovative drug R&D and health technology. Keynote speeches and panel discussions will be held to explore cutting-edge breakthroughs and industrial innovation trends.
The track agenda covers innovative drug R&D, cell and gene therapy, translation of life-science achievements and health industry development. It focuses on integrating research innovation and real-world industrial adoption, advancing technical breakthroughs and commercialisation in life sciences.
At this forum, Li Wang, Founder, former Chairperson and Chief Scientist of West China Hysi Pharmaceutical, and also Founder and Chief Scientist of Chengdu Haifeng Biotechnology, will deliver the keynote speech Building Hubs for New-Drug Translation: Accelerating Innovations toward Industrialisation. Drawing on practical experience in drug translation, she will share pathways for automakers — sorry, for drug developers — to build translation pipelines from lab discovery through preclinical assessment to manufacturing. She will introduce the full-stack public technical service platform for drug R&D agents, including approaches for lab-data workflows and the value of integrated wet-lab and computational experimentation. The discussion will cover auditable benchmarking and real deployment models, offering reference cases for translating biomedical discoveries into market-ready therapies.
Keynote Building Hubs for New-Drug Translation: Accelerating Innovations toward Industrialisation
This presentation centres on the importance of translation hubs for accelerating the conversion of biomedical discoveries into commercial products. Platforms such as those developed by Haifeng Biotechnology deliver end-to-end public technical services for global drug developers, spanning lab discovery, preclinical review and manufacturing enablement. They represent a distinctive, hard-to-replicate model for advancing drug translation.
The talk emphasises that such infrastructure requires top-level design at government level to secure effective investment and deliver tangible translation outcomes, empowering innovation and industry growth and providing replicable examples for local authorities. It highlights the need to bridge innovation and industry. As General Secretary Xi Jinping has stressed, research and industry must overcome the disconnect between them; innovations that fail to connect with industrial application remain merely academic exercises.
In addition, the presentation will discuss the value of integrated wet-lab and computational experimentation, amid the convergence of global drug-discovery technologies, for speeding up translation and industrial development.
Speech Date: November 21, 2026 Stage: Life Science & Healthcare
Speaker Bio
Li Wang WestChina-Frontier Pharmatech Co., Ltd.；Chengdu Haifeng Biotechnology Co., Ltd.
Founder, former Chairperson & Chief Scientist of WestChina-Frontier Pharmatech Co., Ltd. Founder & Chief Scientist of Chengdu Haifeng Biotechnology Co., Ltd.
Professor and Doctoral Supervisor at West China Hospital, Sichuan University. She graduated from the School of Pharmacy, West China University of Medical Sciences in 1982 and obtained her Doctorate in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Nagoya University, Japan. She was recruited back to China by West China Hospital in 2001. She serves as review expert, member of supervision & evaluation panel and guideline drafting expert for the National Major New Drug Creation Program, and Principal Investigator of the National Preclinical Safety Evaluation Platform for New Drugs. She is Chief Scientist of the National 863 Program Platform for R&D and Application of Non-Human Primate Disease Models for Major Human Diseases, and Principal Expert of the Experimental Animal R&D Platform under the Major New Drug Creation Program. She also acts as Vice Chair of the Specialized Expert Committee for Biomedicine, All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese.
She drafted the project guideline for the National Pilot Demonstration Base for Translation of Achievements under the Major New Drug Creation Program, and led the drafting team for Sichuan Provincial 14th Five-Year Plan for Bioeconomy.
She is an Expert entitled to the Special Government Allowance of the State Council, a National March 8th Red Banner Pacesetter, recipient of the Outstanding Contribution Award for the Development of Chinese Pharmacology and Toxicology, one of the Top 20 Innovators & Entrepreneurs honoured by the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, and winner of the First Prize of Sichuan Provincial Science and Technology Progress Award.
Hongqiao Tech Week ⏰ Nov 20–22, 2026 📍 National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai)
