A total of 179 biomedical enterprises located in the Wuxi Biomedical Research and Development Service Outsourcing Zone saw their sales total 10.4 billion yuan ($1.61 billion) in 2020, a year-on-year increase of 5.05 percent.

Among them, 4.66 billion yuan of sales was made by 86 drugs included in medical insurance programs, accounting for nearly half of the total sales.

According to officials, the proportion of drugs included in medical insurance programs for a pharmaceutical company can show its cap research and development capability.

Wuxi Kaifu Pharmaceutical Co Ltd obtained a total of 50 production approvals for pharmaceutical preparations, 23 of which entered the national medical insurance system, accounting for 46 percent of its approvals.

Forty drugs developed by Huayu (Wuxi) Pharmaceutical Co Ltd for large infusion series, psychiatric, as well as the digestive and cardiac vascular systems are included in medical insurance programs.

Officials said that in recent years, a growing number of drugs developed by Wuxi-based pharmaceutical companies have been included in the national medical insurance program, featuring effective treatments for diseases and low costs.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2016-25), the zone will promote the landing of pharmaceutical companies mastering key technologies, focusing on antibody drugs, cell therapy, as well as new-type vaccines, according to officials of the zone.

In addition, Binhu district is expected to develop the scale of biomedical industrial clusters to exceed 30 billion yuan by 2025.