The National Development and Reform Commission has officially approved the establishment of the National Engineering Research Center for Growth Factor Drugs and Protein Preparations led by Wenzhou Medical University in recent days. The center will become the first National Engineering Research Center in the field of growth factors in China.

The center is headed by Professor Li Xiaokun, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and president of Wenzhou Medical University. Wenzhou Medical University will cooperate with local governments, relevant universities, research institutes, and upstream and downstream enterprises of the industrial chain to build a collaborative innovation mechanism and jointly promote the independent innovation and rapid development of growth factor drugs and protein preparations in China. As the first National Engineering Research Center in biomedicine in Zhejiang province, the platform is expected to become another top-notch scientific and technological innovation project in Zhejiang province and provide intellectual and technical support for the construction of a demonstration zone for common prosperity.

The National Engineering Research Center for Growth Factor Drugs and Protein Preparations will be driven by the clinical scientific problems and serve the national major strategic needs. Taking growth factor drugs and protein preparations as the core focus and feature, the center will carry out root-and-branch research and planning covering innovation at the source, R&D of new drugs, and commercialization of results through cross-regional resource integration and collaborative research. The center will focus on the construction of four key technology platforms featuring screening and molecular improvement of growth factor drugs, preparations of growth factor and protein drugs, pharmaceutical engineering for growth factor and protein drugs, and quality standards of growth factor and protein drugs and evaluation of new drugs, and establish a large-scale demonstration base for engineering validation and industrialization.

The National Engineering Research Center is an important part of the national scientific and technological innovation system. Launched by the National Development and Reform Commission, the center is a high-level research and development entity that serves the major strategic needs of making China a country of innovators and optimizing and upgrading the industrial structures, with the goal of expanding independent innovation capability, enhancing the core competitiveness of the industry, and strengthening the stamina of development.

It’s reported that the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Wenzhou Medical University takes the lead in the construction of the National Engineering Research Center for Growth Factor Drugs and Protein Preparations. Under the leadership of Academic Leader and Academician Li Xiaokun, the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences has established the largest growth factors research and development team in China through cross-regional cooperation. The achievements in growth factors research have stimulated the development of pharmaceutical-related disciplines. The pharmaceutical sciences discipline of WMU has been ranked top 10% for two consecutive years according to ShanghaiRanking’s Best Chinese Subjects Ranking. The discipline of pharmacology and toxicology has been ranked top 1.5‰ in ESI Global Disciplines Ranking. The pharmaceutical sciences discipline of WMU has become a front-runner among independent medical colleges and universities in China.

Text translated by Xia Kainan and reviewed by Sun You