By Shera Dalin
The St. Louis
area's concentration of healthcare, medical research and biotechnology
make for a potent prescription to aid relations with China.
Representatives
of St. Louis' pharmaceutical, academic and healthcare organizations
gave presentations to Chinese officials in St. Louis and in Beijing
in February and March about prospective linkages, imports and
exports between China and St. Louis.
Larry Shapiro, dean of Washington University School of Medicine, presented information about the University and its interest in attracting more Chinese medical researchers as well as opportunities to study traditional Chinese medicine in China.
"Opportunities
for clinical research in China are very great," Shapiro says.
"The ability to enroll in a (clinical) trial could take place
much more rapidly. In certain areas, such as basic science, the
Chinese are making rapid strides in research."
The University
is also interested in bringing in more Chinese researchers for
graduate study. Of the 623 Ph.D. students enrolled at the medical
school, 27 are from the People's Republic of China and 21 are
from Taiwan. Those students are part of the cadre of researchers
at the medical school that work on $460 million in research grants
and contracts from government agencies and private sources.
"We hope
to continue to enhance the flow of really talented people to study
and work here," Shapiro says.
More Chinese graduates from the university can only enhance its reputation in China or wherever the graduates go, he noted.
Also, China offers the opportunity to perform medical research less expensively.
"There
are certain kinds of research that are labor intensive and can
be conducted much more economically in China such as genome sequencing,
which still requires a lot of people. Over time one may be able
to establish sequencing centers to carry out vast research projects
at lower cost," Shapiro says.
Establishing a China transport and commercial hub in St. Louis may lead to opportunities in medical and biotech fields, the experts say.
"The
Chinese are getting into the biomedical research and biotechnology
as well. It could create a gateway to China for not only goods,
but people as well," Shapiro says.
Chinese exploration into medical and biotechnology could be an important source of supply and innovation that area companies such as BJC HealthCare and Pfizer Inc., which has a 1,200-employee research and development center in St. Louis.
"As they
develop that, the best way you can participate and develop (relationships)
is to be there," says Dr. Daniel Getman, vice president of
global research and St. Louis site manager for Pfizer. "It
is both an emerging market and an emerging source of technological
innovation. If it is not there today, it will be very shortly.
ItÕs naive of us to think otherwise."
Pfizer has
a research facility in Shanghai of about 200 researchers. That
site is an example of how Pfizer hopes to engage with the Chinese.
Pfizer's governmental affairs officer in Jefferson City, Drue
Duncan, traveled with Missouri's delegation to help foster relationships
for the region.
"I'm
not looking at this as having a direct impact on our facility
in St. Louis," Getman says. "There are a number of things
I'm involved in where I feel like IÕm impacting the life
sciences industry. We're here and we're a major presence, and
anything that can foster that we will support."
As the Chinese innovate and keep labor costs low, the country also becomes a bigger player in outsourcing some medical services such as reading medical images, Shapiro says. To stay abreast of change, BJC HealthCare is interested in exploring what resources and needs the Chinese have, says Steven Lipstein, president and CEO of BJC.
Lipstein,
who was part of the presentation team in St. Louis, traveled in
October to the Peking University People's Hospital. He was impressed
by what he saw.
"When
you visit China you can't help but be impressed by and even overwhelmed
by the number of people there. They have a population of 1.3 billion
people compared to 300 million living in the U.S.
"They
are clearly on a journey to provide all of their citizens with
a college education, an understanding of English, and computer
skills. They are cultivating a formidable workforce that will
become not only a huge supplier of goods and services to the world,
but also a huge consumer of goods and services. We are considering
how we can benefit from a relationship."
While BJC
isn't contemplating providing healthcare to China or sourcing
significant amounts of goods or services from the Chinese, Lipstein
believes that giving the Chinese information on the American healthcare
and regulatory systems can only build more bridges between St.
Louis and Beijing.
"From
that mutual understanding, we can begin to think about how we
can facilitate this exchange in trade that is being contemplated
by the delegation that went there," Lipstein says.
Simply making the Chinese aware of the region and what it has to offer has been a positive first step, Getman says.
"It's
a really exciting opportunity and a great example of how the region
has come together and presented a complete picture," he says.
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