Shanghai intends to begin constructing its first industrial park for RNA vaccines and medicines within a week.



The three-square-kilometer park is slated to kick off construction in the Shanghai Hangzhou Bay Economic and Technological Development Zone in mid-July, a government agency said on the WeChat account of Shanghai’s Fengxian district today. Firms that settle in the area are expected to specialize in the novel development direction of the biomedicine industry.



Messenger RNA is a revolutionary pharmaceutical innovation that will make breakthroughs in therapies for cancers and infectious diseases, the agency added. As seen in Covid-19 vaccines, drugs can target this specific molecule to teach cells to fight off diseases.



The zone already has some famous inhabitants. Hongene Biotech, the world’s largest producer of oligonucleotide and gene monomer, set up a facility in the Shanghai Hangzhou Bay Economic and Technological Development Zone in 2019. The company that makes molecules found in DNA counts vaccine developers Moderna and BioNTech as some of its clients.



Hongene's neighbors include BiOligo Biotech, a major Chinese supplier of nucleic acid testing reagents, and AmbioPharm, an American maker of peptide products.



Source: Yicai