(May 18, 2021, Shanghai, China) The Roche Accelerator was officially launched today at the Roche campus in Zhangjiang High-tech Park, Shanghai. At the launch ceremony, Roche signed strategic partnership agreements with Hillhouse Group and Zhangjiang Group respectively. Dr. Severin Schwan, Chief Executive Officer of Roche Group, Dr. William Pao, Head of Pharma Research and Early Development at Roche, Ms. Ming Zong, Vice Mayor of Shanghai Municipal People’s Government, officials from related Shanghai and Pudong government, representatives from Zhangjiang Group, Hillhouse Group and Roche China management team attended the launch ceremony and witnessed this milestone moment. As a key strategic investment project of Roche Group, the Roche Accelerator is the company’s first in-house accelerator globally. It demonstrates Roche’s long-term commitment to Shanghai and China as a strategic global center, Roche’s goal in strengthening investment in R&D and dedication to innovation in China, and Roche’s ambition to enhance collaboration with government and local partners, as well as efforts to build an external innovation hub and contribute to the local innovation ecosystem.
Increasing R&D investment in China and empowering the local healthcare industry to gear up innovation
The Roche Accelerator will have an investment of over RMB 200 million and will integrate Roche’s resources and advantages to clinch partnerships in an agile and flexible manner. It will provide tailor-made support for start-ups in pharma, diagnostics, personalized healthcare, and digital and AI-driven healthcare. These start-ups will have access to Roche’s full-spectrum of local resources ranging from early research and development to commercialization, such as guidance in techniques, business strategies and innovative ideas. Meanwhile, start-ups will also be provided with research funding support or subsidies.
The center is located in Zhangjiang High-tech Park in the Pudong New Area, covering an area of over 5,000 square meters. In the future, scientists from the Roche Innovation Center Shanghai and Roche Group’s global R&D centers will actively engage with entrepreneurs and share their insights, as the Accelerator will offer high-quality laboratories and offices, and establish partnerships by voluntarily leveraging each other’s strengths, in a bid to foster a batch of start-ups that will play a leading role in the global innovation ecosystem.
Dr. Severin Schwan, Chief Executive Officer of Roche Group, and Dr. William Pao, Head of Pharma Research and Early Development at Roche, attended the ceremony via video conferencing, and expressed expectations for the Accelerator. Dr. Schwan said, “The China market is an important part of Roche’s global strategy. Roche strives to make Shanghai its third largest strategic center, after Basel and San Francisco, and the launch of the Accelerator will accelerate this process. We will continue to deliver on our long-term commitment to the China market, increase investment in innovation and R&D, and contribute to the development of China’s healthcare industry.”
Dr. William Pa0 said, “In recent years, China has been placing a greater focus on science and innovation, creating a favorable environment for research and development in the healthcare industry. At Roche, we are passionate about transforming science into medicines and healthcare solutions and are committed to take an active role in further accelerating innovation. The Roche Accelerator aims to catalyze and empower scientists and entrepreneurs with creative ideas. We hope that together we can build a better future with medical advances that make sustainable contributions and a real difference to people’s health in China and around the world.”
Enabling China-developed healthcare products to benefit the world
The Roche Group has kept a close bond with China for over 90 years, and has always demonstrated its long-term commitment to China by providing Chinese patients with first-class, differentiated pharma and diagnostics solutions. Among all large multinational pharma companies, Roche has taken the lead in building a complete pharma value chain covering R&D, manufacturing and commercialization in China. And R&D has been laying the foundation for Roche’s sustained business growth. As early as 2004, Roche set up the China R&D Center as its first R&D center in emerging markets, and also the first foreign-owned R&D center in Shanghai. The center was mainly engaged in drug research and early development. In 2007, the Roche Pharma Development Center Shanghai was established to advance and accelerate clinical development and registration of Roche’s innovative drugs in China. In 2009, the development center was fully integrated into the global organization and became one of the five global product development sites. In 2019, Roche invested an additional RMB 863 million to upgrade the R&D Center, Roche Innovation Center Shanghai, expanding efforts in immunology and establishing capabilities in oncology. In 2014, new Roche Diagnostics Asia-Pacific manufacturing site and R&D center was established in Suzhou Industrial Park, Suzhou, China with total investment amounting to 479 million dollars.In early 2020, Covid-19 hit the global economy, but Roche Group’s commitment in China remained unchanged. The company even identified its 2030 China ambition during the pandemic and decided to gear up investment in local R&D.
The Roche Accelerator is another strategic initiative after the inauguration of the new Roche Innovation Center Shanghai building in 2019. Roche will work with various partners, including Zhangjiang Group and Hillhouse Capital, to jointly incubate local start-ups. Dr. Hong Shen, Head of Roche Innovation Center Shanghai, said, “With the launch of the Accelerator, we will work closely with Zhangjiang Group, Hillhouse Capital, research institutions, start-ups and other partners in China and overseas to create an innovation platform with global influence. My hope is that under the leadership of Dr. Qiusong Tang, the Accelerator will empower more start-ups, bridge the gap between concept and proof-of-concept, upgrade ‘made in China’ to ‘created in China’, and allow R&D in China to benefit the world.”
As key partners of the accelerator, Zhangjiang Group will provide strong operational support of the Roche Accelerator, while Hillhouse Capital will provide funding for selected high-quality start-ups and projects to jointly foster innovation and development of China’s biopharmaceutical industry. Tao Yuan, Chairman of Zhangjiang Group, said, “We are very glad that a large company like Roche will offer resources to support start-ups in making breakthroughs. We look forward to working with Roche to advance the construction of a new innovation ecosystem in Zhangjiang.” Michael Yi, Co-CIO and Partner of Hillhouse Group, is also upbeat about the partnership. He said, “With the Roche Accelerator, we will further leverage Hillhouse Capital’s investment track-record and capital strength in the healthcare sector, together with Roche’s research expertise and commercial capabilities, to incubate high-quality local healthcare startups and unleash the potential of China’s healthcare industry.”
“Roche was the first multinational pharma company to settle in Zhangjiang, Shanghai, and over the years, we’ve been leading and benefiting from a continuous stream of innovation and breakthroughs locally.” said Hong Chow, General Manager of Roche Pharma China. “Diseases have no nationality, and innovation knows no borders. The launch of Roche Accelerator marks an important transition for Roche from introducing globally-leading innovation into China to incubating innovation within China. Roche strives to make China a global innovation hub. We are committed to doing now what patients need next, and we will continue to work with our partners to build a healthcare ecosystem, promote R&D in China onto the global stage, and step up efforts to benefit patients in China and across the world.”
“As a pioneer in the in vitro diagnostics industry, Roche Diagnostics has always been open to collaborations with local start-ups to empower innovation ecosystem in China. We will do our best to provide support for the local entrepreneurs with our R&D and commercial capabilities in China.” said Richard Yiu, General Manager of Roche Diagnostics China. “In vitro diagnostics plays a vital role in each stage of disease management. Through Roche Accelerator, we aim to discover and develop more breakthrough total solutions together with local government and partners to drive the development of personalized healthcare, and in the end benefit more patients.”