Recently, the inaugural "Great Nation New Drugs" Global Conference (CPIC 2026) kicked off at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai). This industry event, positioned as China's answer to the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, is regarded by the industry as the home ground for Chinese innovative drugs to step onto the world stage.

 

For China's pharmaceutical industry, which is undergoing transformation and upgrading, CPIC is not just a conference — it is more like a reconnection of the industrial ecosystem. Chinese innovative drugs are moving from "participating in global competition" to "building global connections."

 

At this conference, Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group (GPC) offered its answer.

 

GPC officially unveiled its "12368" science and technology innovation strategy — anchored on the core goal of "transforming into an innovative drug company," adhering to the two principles of long-term innovation and R&D tolerance, coordinating six innovation support systems, and laying out eight innovation platforms. It extended an "olive branch" to global R&D talent and issued invitations for high-quality scientific R&D BD pipeline collaborations.

 

This time, GPC brought not just a strategy, but a systematic transformation supported by capital, R&D, industry, and globalization.

 

To underpin this strategy, GPC announced a multi-billion-yuan plan — RMB 20 billion for R&D and RMB 30 billion for industrial M&A and pipeline partnerships — demonstrating its transformation commitment with real money.

 

For a century-old traditional pharmaceutical group, this represents a proactive industrial restructuring: shifting from growth driven by brand strength and scale advantages, to growth driven by innovation capabilities and global resource allocation capabilities.

 

 

Chapter 1: "Reinventing GPC"

 

"Reinventing GPC" is the core goal for the next five years. But this "reinvention" is not simply about doubling revenue scale — it is an upgrade of industrial capabilities.

 

To this end, GPC has proposed a "4+4+X" new business landscape: Modern Chinese medicine, chemical pharmaceuticals, pharmaceutical commerce, and natural beverages as the four cornerstone businesses; biopharmaceutical innovation, consumer health, diagnostics and devices, and agricultural technology as the four growth businesses; and asset management, medical services, etc., as extended businesses. This is a framework that balances existing assets with new growth — cornerstone businesses maintain the foundation, while growth businesses build the future.

 

Supporting this system is GPC's clear investment plan. During the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, GPC will pursue a dual-drive strategy of "in-house R&D + M&A," investing RMB 20 billion in R&D innovation and RMB 30 billion in industrial M&A and pipeline partnerships.

 

In GPC's view, the significance of M&A is not simply expanding asset scale, but using capital to buy time during the competitive window for innovative drugs.

 

This is also a development path commonly adopted by major global pharmaceutical companies in recent years.

 

Acquiring innovative assets through external partnerships and leveraging internal platforms for commercial scaling has become an important way for multinational pharmaceutical companies to maintain competitiveness.

 

It should be noted that GPC is not pursuing a "shotgun" approach. GPC has clearly stated that the RMB 20 billion R&D budget will be focused on frontier areas including cell and gene therapy, nucleic acid drugs, radiopharmaceuticals, and monoclonal/bispecific/multispecific antibodies and ADCs.

 

Currently, GPC has approximately 200 R&D projects in the pipeline, covering multiple key therapeutic areas including malignant tumors, chronic disease management, respiratory diseases, and immune system diseases.

 

At the same time, GPC is also building platforms to connect innovation sources.

 

GPC is leading the construction of the National University Biomedical Technology Regional Technology Transfer and Transformation Center (Greater Bay Area Center), and is currently facilitating the implementation of 33 CGT project collaborations.

 

Peng Wei
Deputy General Manager, Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Holdings; Chairman, University Biomedical Technology Transfer and Transformation Center (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd.

 

For a traditional pharmaceutical company, this signals a shift in R&D model: from internally driven R&D to open innovation connecting universities, research institutions, and biotech companies.

 

If R&D investment represents GPC's long-term bet on the future, then industrial M&A reflects its judgment on competitive timing.

 

Since 2026, GPC's capital activities have continued to accelerate.

 

On July 22, GPC's RMB 2.418 billion investment to take control of Da'an Gene officially entered the implementation phase. Through its wholly-owned subsidiary GPC Capital, GPC acquired a combined 26.63% stake in Da'an Gene via "acquiring 100% of Guangyong Technology + transferring listed company shares," becoming its indirect controlling shareholder.

 

Da'an Gene is a key player in China's molecular diagnostics field, with a comprehensive layout covering molecular diagnostic reagents, instruments, and technology platforms. Diagnostics and devices are one of the key growth areas in GPC's "4+4+X" strategy.

 

The industrial logic behind this transaction is not complex: for a company aspiring to transform into a comprehensive innovative pharmaceutical group, diagnostics capabilities are not just a business line, but a crucial gateway to the future precision medicine ecosystem.

 

On July 25, GPC's subsidiary Baiyunshan Hejigong acquired Beijing Pharmaskin for RMB 330 million, entering the novel transdermal patch sector.

 

Previously, GPC had completed the acquisition of Fujian Caishantang, become the second-largest shareholder of Nanjing Pharmaceutical through its fund, and fully acquired Zhejiang Pharmaceutical Industry. Currently, GPC's holding and strategic investment portfolio includes multiple listed platforms such as Baiyunshan, Kangmei Pharmaceutical, and Nanjing Pharmaceutical.

 

To further enhance capital operation efficiency, GPC has also established a private equity company, accelerating布局 around innovative assets, industrial resources, and future tracks.

 

Meanwhile, talent acquisition has become a key lever in the transformation.

 

In July this year, Dr. Liu Jian, former member of the Global Executive Committee and CEO of the Innovation Center at BeiGene, joined GPC as Group Strategic Scientist. Dr. Liu has previously participated in new drug R&D and innovation management at international pharmaceutical companies including Pfizer, Sanofi, AstraZeneca, Novartis, and Johnson & Johnson. His joining represents GPC's accelerated efforts to build international innovative drug R&D capabilities.

 

Aligning with its future strategic direction, GPC launched a "5+5" top-tier talent program, focusing on five key areas: cell and gene therapy, antibody drugs, nucleic acid drugs, nuclear medicine, and AI + R&D. Currently, including Liu Jian, GPC has recruited or is in the process of recruiting nearly 20 top-tier talents.

 

Chapter 2: Sprinting Across Multiple Tracks

 

The pharmaceutical industry is entering a new cycle.

 

On one hand, the normalization of centralized procurement is forcing traditional pharmaceutical companies to rethink their growth models. On the other hand, accelerated innovative drug approvals, the return of rational capital, and the rapid penetration of new technologies such as AI are opening new windows for industrial upgrading. For century-old traditional pharmaceutical companies, holding onto past advantages is no longer sufficient to win the future.

 

From Chinese medicine to chemical drugs, from biologics to nuclear medicine, and then to AI-driven drug discovery, GPC is building an innovation matrix spanning multiple technology directions.

 

Pursuing multiple tracks does not simply mean spreading resources thin, but rather seeking balance across different industrial cycles: traditional businesses provide stable support, emerging businesses create growth space, and frontier technologies lay the groundwork for future competitive advantage.

 

Liu Jian
Strategic Scientist, Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group

 

In GPC's view, the development path of MNCs has already proven that running multiple pipelines, platforms, and technology routes in parallel is an inevitable choice for large pharmaceutical groups aiming for global competition. "None of the world's top 20 pharmaceutical companies have developed on the strength of a single product or a single technology platform."

 

The value of a multi-pipeline portfolio lies in its ability to share clinical resources, manufacturing systems, commercial channels, and global supply chain capabilities — thereby reducing the risk of failure of any single project and improving industrial synergy. For GPC, this is also a necessary condition for moving from "China's leading" to "world-class."

 

Chinese medicine is GPC's strongest hand. The group owns 13 time-honored Chinese brands, 11 of which are over 100 years old — including Chen Liji, the "world's longest-established pharmaceutical factory," as well as household names such as Wanglaoji, Jingxiutang, Pangaoshou, and Caizhilin. It holds over 100 exclusive approvals for Chinese medicine products and has cultivated more than 30 blockbuster products with sales exceeding RMB 100 million.

 

In the chemical pharmaceutical space, GPC is also driving product structure upgrades. Beyond commercial products such as "Kangzhiba," Jinge, Tiema, and Super Code, GPC is accelerating innovative drug R&D. Among them, its self-developed Class 1.1 anti-tumor new drug BYS10 tablets have entered the pivotal registration clinical stage. The product targets advanced solid tumors including non-small cell lung cancer and medullary thyroid carcinoma, with the potential to break the long-standing market dominance of foreign RET-mutant solid tumor therapies.

 

Nuclear medicine represents GPC's most "hardcore" breakthrough direction. Nuclear medicine is becoming an important direction in precision diagnosis and treatment, but for a long time, the supply of key medical isotopes has been heavily dependent on imports, with supply chain security concerns persisting.

 

GPC has chosen to start with building foundational capabilities. Its布局 is not a single-point breakthrough, but an attempt to build a complete industrial chain covering isotope production, drug R&D, manufacturing, and clinical application.

 

In August 2025, GPC and the Xiamen Institute of Rare Earths' commercialization platform jointly established Baiyunshan Xiyuan Health, successfully overcoming technical barriers in solid-target systems and separation and purification to achieve independent and stable production of four core medical isotopes: Gallium-68 (⁶⁸Ga), Zirconium-89 (⁸⁹Zr), Copper-64 (⁶⁴Cu), and Rhenium-186 (¹⁸⁶Re). In November of the same year, GPC signed a strategic cooperation agreement with GE Healthcare, focusing on precision medicine and nuclear medicine to jointly advance the integrated development of nuclear medicine diagnosis and treatment. In early 2026, GPC's Global Medical Isotope Research and Development Center officially landed in Huangpu, completing the transformation from "watching nuclear with helplessness" to "independent and controllable."

 

In AI drug discovery, in March 2025, GPC signed a comprehensive strategic cooperation agreement with Huawei to drive digital transformation across the board, and established a specialized digital operations platform, GPC Digital Technology Co., to coordinate and promote digitalization across the entire group, reshaping industrial operations through digital transformation.

 

On July 17, 2026, at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) AI International Standardization Forum, the project "AI Agent for New Drug Creation R&D and Application Driven by Domestic Computing Power," jointly submitted by GPC Digital Technology, Huawei, and ecosystem partners, was selected for the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's "AI High-Value Scenario Application Case Collection" — the only case from the domestic pharmaceutical industry to be selected.

 

According to reports, the platform has completed proof-of-concept testing and is expected to shorten the hit compound discovery cycle from 12–18 months to 1–3 months, more than doubling preclinical efficiency.

 

For the innovative drug industry, the greatest value of AI lies not in creating concepts, but in reducing R&D costs, shortening R&D cycles, and improving innovation success rates. This is the core logic behind GPC's layout in AI drug discovery.

 

Chapter 3: "GPC of the World" — From Regional Chain Leader to Global Ecosystem Organizer

 

GPC is located at the core of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. For a long time, as an important chain leader in Guangdong's biopharmaceutical industry, GPC has played a key role in integrating regional resources and driving industrial agglomeration.

 

But under the strategic goal of "reinventing GPC," the definition of "chain leader" is evolving. In the past, GPC primarily served as a driver of regional industrial development; in the future, it aims to become a participant and organizer in the global pharmaceutical innovation ecosystem.

 

From regional leader to global competitor — this is a path that requires rebuilding capabilities.

 

 

GPC's internationalization journey is a progressive, multi-layered global deepening. GPC summarizes this path into three "shifts": from "going out" to "going deep in," from "having products" to "having systems," and from "doing trade" to "building ecosystems" — three main lines advancing in parallel and reinforcing each other.

 

Leveraging time-honored brands such as Wanglaoji, GPC has already completed the first phase of its international market expansion.

 

Currently, Wanglaoji's sales network covers over 100 countries and regions worldwide, with overseas market scale growing more than sixfold over the past decade; Baiyunshan Qixing Huatuo Zaizao Wan has also been exported to multiple countries and regions. But "going deep in" goes far beyond that — GPC has established multiple overseas task forces to send teams to deeply immerse themselves in local cultures and markets.

 

In a globally competitive environment, simply exporting products is no longer sufficient for long-term development. Different countries have different regulatory systems, reimbursement systems, and market rules. Truly entering overseas markets requires not just products, but a localized operating system.

 

To this end, GPC is advancing its overseas team development, establishing deeper industry connections around key markets. For example, it has established an international company in Macau and is building Macau's first GMP Chinese medicine manufacturing plant; in Hong Kong, it is building an international system of "R&D in Hong Kong, transformation in the Greater Bay Area, and application globally." The goal of these布局 is to move from product export to capability export.

 

The most important shift is from "doing trade" to "building ecosystems" — the highest-level shift. The difference is that trade is a one-off transaction, while an ecosystem is long-term symbiosis.

 

Since the beginning of this year, GPC has made global investment attraction a key strategic priority, opening up five directions globally: product collaboration, marketing collaboration, scientific research collaboration, investment collaboration, and innovation incubation. It seeks not short-term orders, but long-term partners capable of co-growth.

 

Currently, GPC has established industrial collaborations with multiple overseas companies.

 

For example, it is exploring local supply chain development in the Middle East with Saudi Arabia's Edouk Group; promoting a "supply chain synergy + localized production + distribution" model with Malaysia's PCI; and has initiated collaborations with companies in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan on pharmaceutical trade, industrial investment, and localized operations.

 

Behind these moves lies a shift in GPC's internationalization logic: no longer just taking Chinese drugs abroad, but participating in the reconstruction of the global pharmaceutical industrial chain.

 

— Conclusion —

 

2026 is Guangzhou's "Year of Investment Promotion," and GPC, as the chain leader of biopharmaceuticals, has taken the initiative to lead the charge. Since the beginning of this year, GPC has held multiple investment promotion conferences — from Wuhan to Haikou, from Nanning to Suzhou — bringing together approximately 700 corporate partners. CPIC 2026 became an important window for GPC to further connect with global innovation resources.

 

Facing the global market, GPC's approach is pragmatic and open: for high-quality overseas pipelines, it is willing to be a key partner for localized implementation; for its proprietary Chinese medicine products, it actively seeks out-licensing opportunities; on the R&D front, it connects global research resources through the Greater Bay Area technology transfer platform; and for capital cooperation, it leverages international financial platforms to establish deeper connections with global innovative companies through joint ventures, equity participation, funds, and other vehicles.

 

GPC has stated its willingness to work with all like-minded partners worldwide — to bring good products to the world, to share good stories with the world, and to leave a good future for the world.