BEIJING, March 17 (Zhao Jiarui, Xinhua) With the increase in demand in recent years, global vaccine industry has shown a steady growth trend. Innovative vaccines have become the direction of future development. 

Jia Shaojun, Executive President and Board member of AIM Vaccine, introduced three important characters of vaccine biologics. First, it has high technology barrier and needs high-level talents and cutting-edge technology. Second, it has a long product cycle. It takes five to eight years from R&D to market launch for a vaccine product and some products may even take more than ten years. Third, it demands for huge investment in terms of R&D and infrastructure. In his view, the fundamental solution for vaccine companies to solve technological challenges is to build a team of high-level talents which requires long-term investment.

In recent years, AIM Vaccine has focused its product development on potential blockbusters based on its technology platforms of mRNA vaccine, bacterial vaccine, viral vaccine, genetic engineering vaccine and conjugate vaccine. Its portfolio consists of 22 innovative products including a 13-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide conjugate vaccine, a quadrivalent meningococcal polysaccharide conjugate vaccine, an EV71-CA16 bivalent hand-foot-mouth disease vaccine and a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine. In particular, bivalent mRNA vaccine targeting Omicron BA.5, first of its kind in China, has shown good safety and immunogenicity results based on its current data. Jia Shaojun said that technological innovation is also one of the driving forces for the development of vaccines companies. AIM Vaccine needs to have one or more well-received products in the pursuit of a great company and great companies can only be made by great products. Both the company’s confidence and motivation lie in this belief.

Jia Shaojun mentioned during the interview that the confidence of AIM Vaccine comes from China’s support for the development of private enterprises, which allows them to invest and make long-term plans. In terms of political environment, AIM Vaccine currently has three research institutes, four R&D centers and four vaccine manufacturing companies in Ningbo, Taizhou and Dalian. Thanks to the support from local policies, the company has achieved steady development. In terms of technological innovation, AIM Vaccine has seen significant increase in investment and criteria setting in recent years’ system construction. “In terms of product R&D, a transparent and standardized audit system has been established via the reform over the past few years. In terms of production, vaccine quality can be guaranteed with the measures of environmental supervision and unannounced inspection by national and provincial FDA, on-site inspection by inspectors and real-time data upload," said Jia Shaojun. He also said that China's vaccine industry is now ready for development to the next level.