DTN 130: China's Biotech Industry on the Rise

Plus: DIY drones flood the skies, the end of Natcast, Christie's deletes NFT department, self-assembling silicon nanowires, exotic phase of matter on a quantum processor, and more.

September 12, 2025

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“The first billion-dollar company in the world, inflation-adjusted, was a deep tech company, Carnegie Steel. The first $10 billion company was deep tech. The first $100 billion company was deep tech. The first trillion-dollar company was deep tech.”

China’s biotech industry is on the rise. Will it reshape US pharma?

“It’s faster and easier to run clinical trials in China than in the US, which means it’s also faster and easier for drug developers and investors to learn whether drug candidates will work in humans…The Chinese biomedical engine has hit an inflection point, churning out new molecules with best-in-class and first-in-class potential at a hasty clip. Once known for generics and me-too drugs, China’s biotech industry has recently begun to develop more innovative medicines for cancer, autoimmune diseases, and cardiometabolic conditions. This change is catching the eye of investors in the US and Europe—and raising concerns about the sustainability of the US biotech sector.”

Swedish researchers built a bio-ink called “μInk” and use a 3D printer to create a skin structure filled with high-density cells. Photograph: Magnus Johansson/Linköping University.

Doctors typically rely on skin grafting to treat severe burns, but it doesn’t always yield successful results, especially if the dermis - the layer containing blood vessels and nerves - fails to regenerate. Skin rejuvenation can quickly escalate to a matter of life and death. Swedish researchers are now one step closer to solving this problem by using 3D printing to create artificial skin has blood vessels, which means it’s considered “living skin.” Researchers hope this artificial skin could provide the building blocks for the body to make the dermis itself. In a transplantation experiment with mice, the scientists confirmed that living cells grew inside the transplanted tissue fragments made from the artificial skin. New blood vessels also grew inside the graft, indicating that the conditions for long-term tissue fixation were met. (via Wired)

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