As a vital element for Shanghai's ambition to build itself into a global science and technology hub, Zhangjiang National Innovation Demonstration Zone is working to improve healthcare services through innovation in the medical and pharmaceutical fields.

The pharmaceutical industry in Zhangjiang National Innovation Demonstration Zone has been on the rise in recent years, becoming an engine for the further development of Shanghai's pharmaceutical industry.

Over the years, a large number of pharmaceutical companies have settled in Zhangjiang, and many of them have been looking for innovative development with a strategic path.

For example, Shanghai Green Valley (Group) Co Ltd is an innovation-driven medical investment group focusing on innovative drugs' research and development, production and sales, as well as modern traditional Chinese medicine health diagnostics and management services. It has explored new medicines R&D by using sugar-based drugs to treat complex diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes.

The Green Valley Research Institute, with a team of high-level professionals and overseas talents, was established to set up R&D centers in Beijing, Benxi of Liaoning province and Changchun of Jilin province. It also established manufacturing bases in Shanghai Qingpu, and Liaoning province's Benxi Green Valley Industry Park.

Green Valley also initiated and formed the standard of salvianolate, which has been formally written into the national pharmacopoeia. It also established Shanghai Green Valley Pharmaceutical Co Ltd through its partnership with the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The company specializes in the exploration and development of innovative, natural medicine through modern biopharmaceutical methods.

With the guidance of traditional Chinese medicine theory, it has researched and developed natural medicine by carrying out scientific testing, selection and transformation on traditional prescriptions.

The company has accumulated intellectual property rights for a series of innovative drug product lines with confirmed efficacy to meet international standards. Salvianolic acid salt for injection, one of the company's core products, is a kind of natural medicine for which China and the United States have authorized patents.

According to the company, it is now developing a drug, GV-971, for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. GV-971 prevents the aggregation and deposition of amyloid peptide. The phase III clinical trial is expected to be finished in the end of 2017. So far, drugs for the treatment of Alzheimer's are symptomatic relief and fail to effectively prevent the progress of the disease. GV-971 is expected to bring a new hope for the treatment of the disease, according to the company.

Green Valley said it is still working to enhance the connection between lab research and the industry to build a world-class company through constant innovation.