He stressed the need

for universities, hospitals and enterprises to join forces in research

and contribute to

the victory

over the novel coronavirus.

 

On February 21, Peng Qinghua, secretary of the provincial party committee and head of the provincial party committee's leading group on the response to the novel coronavirus, visited the State Biotherapy Key Laboratory at Sichuan University to learn about the progress in research on the vaccine against the coronavirus.

On February 21, Peng Qinghua, secretary of the provincial party committee and head of the provincial party committee's leading group on the response to the novel coronavirus, visited some universities, research institutes and enterprises and gave instructions on the prevention and control of COVID-19.

He stressed that the victory over COVID-19 would not be possible without scientific support and that we must work in accordance with General Secretary Xi Jinping's remarks on ramping up scientific research, give full play to the strengths of Sichuan universities, research institutes and enterprises, introduce collaborative innovations, and carry out joint research so that we can win the war on the epidemic through scientific breakthroughs.

 

Site

Huaxi Campus of Sichuan University

The State Biotherapy Key Laboratory at Sichuan University undertakes the mission of applying biotechnology in the treatment of major diseases.

 

Peng Qinghua showed great interest in the vaccine the laboratory is developing against the novel coronavirus. He visited the research team on the Huaxi Campus of Sichuan University, learned about the progress made in the development of the vaccine, and was updated on the research on the prevention and control of COVID-19 across Sichuan.

After the outbreak of the coronavirus, the State Biotherapy Key Laboratory at Sichuan University joined forces with multiple organizations to carry out coordinated research on the COVID-19 recombinant protein vaccine, genetic engineering vaccine, rapid diagnosis reagent, and micro molecular targeted drug. Currently, animal experiments are being conducted on the recombinant protein vaccine. Clinical trials will be made once its effectiveness and safety are verified, and the results will be submitted to the state. Peng Qinghua praised the achievements made thus far by the laboratory.

He said that effective drugs and vaccines are crucial to the prevention and control of the epidemic. The patients and the public alike look forward to this positive outcome.

We should better the joint research mechanism, focus on basic research and applied research, discover the virus structure, the infection mechanism and the transmission route, and ramp up investment in vaccine research and development so people are better protected against the virus.

Sichuan University should give full play to its advantages as a multidisciplinary research organization, conduct in-depth research into the response to emergency public health issues like the coronavirus outbreak across China, deliver systematic theoretical results, and come up with more countermeasures and suggestions to improve Sichuan’s mechanism for the prevention and control of major diseases and its public health emergency management system.

 

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Sichuan Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Traditional Chinese medicine has played an important role in the prevention and control of the coronavirus epidemic and the treatment of COVID-19 patients.

Peng Qinghua had a discussion with experts in traditional Chinese medicine at the Sichuan Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine and inquired about clinical treatments and the screening and evaluation of effective Chinese patent medicines. He visited the Traditional Chinese Medicine Quality Biology Evaluation Key Laboratory affiliated with the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine located in the academy to learn about the development of traditional Chinese medicine preparations for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. Peng Qinghua was very pleased to learn that the participation rate of traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of confirmed cases in Sichuan reached more than 90%, and that the effective "COVID-19 preparation 1, preparation 2 and preparation 3" were covered by medical insurance across the whole province.

 

On February 21, Peng Qinghua visited the Sichuan Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine and inquired about the development of traditional Chinese medicine preparations for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 at the Traditional Chinese Medicine Quality Biology Evaluation Key Laboratory affiliated with the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine located in the academy.

He said that traditional Chinese medicine is a treasure of the Chinese nation that has unique advantages such as wide applicability, exact clinical curative effect and flexible treatment methods.

To give full play to the role of traditional Chinese medicine in the prevention and clinical treatment of infectious diseases and in rehabilitation, we should continue to carry out research on effective prescriptions, formulate prescriptions that target different symptoms, the patient physique and disease status, improve the integrated traditional Chinese and western medicine treatment mechanism and the diagnosis and treatment scheme, and maximize the cure rate and reduce the mortality rate.

Sichuan has long been known as "the hometown and repository of traditional Chinese medicine"; it is rich in traditional Chinese medicine resources. We should take the prevention and control of coronavirus as an opportunity to vigorously develop the traditional Chinese medicine industry, and make full use of modern technologies and new models to promote industrial transformation and upgrading and enhance core competitiveness.

 

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Huitai Biomedicine and CapitalBio Technology

Biomedical enterprises are important players in the technological battle against COVID-19.

Peng Qinghua visited research and development laboratories and production workshops to inspect the epidemic prevention and control measures taken by enterprises, product research and development, and production and operation in Huitai Biomedicine located in Tianfu Life Science Park of Chengdu High-tech Zone and CapitalBio Technology located in Wenjiang District.

 

On February 21, Secretary Peng Qinghua inspected the development of new drugs for pulmonary fibrosis in Huitai Biomedicine located in Tianfu Life Science Park of Chengdu High-tech Zone.

 

On February 21, Secretary Peng Qinghua visited CapitalBio Technology located in Wenjiang District to learn about the production and testing of COVID-19 testing equipment in a production workshop.

Huitai Biomedicine has developed innovative drugs to delay or block the process of pulmonary fibrosis. The nucleic acid detection system developed by CapitalBio Technology can rapidly detect 19 respiratory viruses including the novel coronavirus at a time.

Peng Qinghua expressed his appreciation for the companies’ research and development of virus detection, prevention and control products over the years. He urged them to focus on epidemic prevention and control on the premise of ensuring the health and safety of their employees, ramp up industry-university- research cooperation, and provide more safe and reliable high-tech products for epidemic prevention and control.

Peng Qinghua stressed that relevant provincial and municipal departments should strongly support the research, development and production of bio-pharmaceutical products, facilitate the approval of drugs and equipment developed for the prevention and control of diseases, take pragmatic measures to solve the difficulties faced by enterprises in production and operation, and ensure that mature products are applied in clinical treatments so that these drugs and equipment can play an effective role in ensuring the health and safety of the masses.

 

Provincial leaders Fan Ruiping, Wang Minghui and Wang Fengchao, and heads of relevant departments of the provincial government took part in the research.

Source: Sichuan Observer

Journalist Zhang Shoushuai and Photographer Ouyang Jie of Sichuan Observer