ShanghaiMay 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — From May 14 to 16, 2026, the DIA Drug Information Conference and Exhibition was held at the Shanghai Zhangjiang Science Hall. As a key professional exchange platform for drug research and development both domestically and internationally, this year’s annual conference, themed “Inspiring Innovation Value in Regulation, R&D, and Global Accessibility,” brought together drug regulatory agencies, medical research experts, and corporate representatives from over 40 countries and regions worldwide. The aim was to drive the full-chain innovative development of the global biomedical industry, strengthen domestic and international cooperation, and help optimize next-generation drug R&D strategies.
At this conference, Boehringer Ingelheim set up a booth under the theme “Innovation Leading the Way, Riding the Tide,” systematically showcasing the fruitful results achieved over the past six years since implementing the “China Key” strategy, as well as its innovative practices in accelerating the local launch of innovative drugs in China. Additionally, through multiple keynote speeches and discussions on key topics, the company elaborated on its R&D strategy in China and shared cutting-edge insights aligned with the high-quality development of China’s pharmaceutical R&D.
“China Key” Bears Fruit: Global Simultaneous and First-Launch Drugs Accelerate Benefits for Chinese Patients
In recent years, China has continuously introduced and implemented multiple policies in pharmaceutical regulation and innovation encouragement. Through measures such as accelerating the review and approval of clinical trial applications and new drug applications, continuously improving the trial data protection and market exclusivity period system, and strengthening intellectual property protection, China is rapidly emerging as an important source of global biomedical innovation. Boehringer Ingelheim pioneered and implemented the “China Key” strategy in 2019, fully integrating China into its global early clinical development programs. Over the past six years, driven by this strategy, multiple products and indications from the company have achieved global simultaneous or even first approvals in China, accelerating the pace at which innovative outcomes benefit Chinese patients.
In 2025 alone, Boehringer Ingelheim had three new drugs and four indications approved for market in China. Among them, Shenghutu® (Zongaitinib Tablets) for the treatment of HER2-mutated advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and Boyouwei® (Namirost Tablets) for adult idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) received global simultaneous approvals; Boyouwei® (Namirost Tablets) for progressive pulmonary fibrosis (PPF) achieved a global first launch, ahead of Europe, the United States, and Japan.
Local Wisdom Leads Global Innovation: “China Expert” Project Officially Launched
Since the implementation of the “China Key” strategy, Boehringer Ingelheim has established clinical research strategic partnerships with over 40 top-tier hospitals in China, accelerating clinical trial deployment in key disease areas and systematically including Chinese patients and experts from the early stages, ensuring adequate coverage of Chinese patients in global multicenter clinical trials. As of April 2026, China has participated in 100% of Boehringer Ingelheim’s global key project clinical development and 75% of its global early-stage project clinical development. This has not only accelerated the approval of the company’s innovative drugs in China, benefiting Chinese patients sooner, but also continuously enhanced the participation and influence of China’s top clinical experts in global R&D. At the same time, through a two-way synergy mechanism, China’s innovative experience feeds back into global R&D, creating a virtuous cycle that accelerates the flow and sharing of global innovation outcomes.
In July 2025, as a natural extension of the “China Key” strategy, Boehringer formally proposed the “China Expert (China KEE)” project, aiming to include more top Chinese experts in the global steering committees of its clinical research. This not only allows Chinese experts to bring clinical insights from local practice to headquarters teams, ensuring that new drugs are designed from the outset to align with Chinese standards and patient characteristics, but also enables them to showcase outstanding professional expertise and leadership on the global stage, directly influencing global clinical development decisions. Since the strategy’s implementation, multiple top Chinese experts have joined global steering committees in disease areas such as oncology, immunology, and cardiorenal metabolism, providing many constructive recommendations for clinical R&D strategies.
Dr. Zhang Wei, Head of R&D and Medical Affairs at Boehringer Ingelheim Greater China, stated: “China is accelerating drug review and approval through institutional innovation, making the pathway for innovative drug launches more efficient and clear. Benefiting from this policy environment, Boehringer continues to advance and implement the ‘China Key’ strategy and further initiates the ‘China Expert’ project. We look forward to incorporating more Chinese voices into the upstream of global R&D, transforming the Chinese market into a true innovation hub. This is not only a breakthrough at the corporate level but also a microcosm of the overall leap in China’s pharmaceutical innovation system. Relying on a continuously optimized innovation environment, we collaborate with local healthcare providers and patients, moving from clinical execution to R&D decision-making. While helping to improve China’s innovative drug clinical trial and review and approval system, we also feed Chinese wisdom back into the global R&D system.”
