Jafron Biomedical and Essex Bio-Pharmaceutical in the Zhuhai National Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone (Tangjiawan) made the 2021 Top 100 Lists of China's Medical Industry, which were recently released by Menet, a professional media enterprise focusing on biomedicine. 

Jafron ranked 11th on the Top 20 List of China's Medical Device Enterprises, while Essex Bio-Technology, an old brand currently exploring genetically engineered medicines, moved 20 places forward to the 78th position in the Top 100 List of China's Pharmaceutical Enterprises.

Of note, Essex's flagship product Beifushu (Recombinant Bovine Basic Fibroblast Growth Factor (rb-bFGF) Eye Drops) has been included in China's Medicine Brand List for four consecutive years. 

Jafron Biomedical in Tangjiawan [Photo courtesy jafron.com]

Jafron is the second of its kind in Guangdong Province and one of the first batch of domestic enterprises to pass the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) of Medial Devices examination. Its resin hemoperfusion, DNA immunosorbent column, and plasma bilirubin sorbent have a market share of more than 70 percent.

The 95,318-sqm (24-acre) Jafron Jinding Industrial Park was put into operation on July 16 to cover the whole blood purification industrial chain. It is estimated to generate annual output value of around 4 billion yuan ($593 million).

Founded in 1999, Essex Bio-Pharmaceutical occupies 13,000 sq m (3.2 acres) at the Technological Innovation Coast near Zhuhai North Station. Being a hi-tech enterprise dedicated to the R&D and industrialization of rb-bFGF drugs, the company has garnered prizes of the State Science & Technology Progress Awards for its remarkable contributions to China's scientific and technological progress.

The industrial development of the biomedicine industry in Tangjiawan has been gaining momentum since the start of this year. The zone has formulated six categories of distinctive products, namely blood purification, gene recombinant medicines, life monitoring, medical imaging, in vitro diagnostic reagents, as well as implant and interventional medical devices.

Nearly 100 enterprises showing high-quality growth are now based in Tangjiawan, while detailed implantation rules for boosting the biomedical industry's growth have been put forward. The industrial output value of the biological medicine industries above designated size in the Hi-Tech Zone increased by 37.6 percent year-on-year to 4.45 billion yuan ($658.88 million) in the first six months of 2022.