Recently, eight departments including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Office of the Central Leading Group for Cyberspace Affairs, and the National Development and Reform Commission jointly issued the "Opinions on Implementing the Special Action of 'Artificial Intelligence + Manufacturing'". The "Opinions" propose to accelerate the integrated application of artificial intelligence technology in the manufacturing industry, create new productive forces, and deeply and highly empower new industrialization.
The document proposes multiple general tasks and requirements that are also applicable to and profoundly point towards the future development of the pharmaceutical industry. These include prioritizing the promotion of drug research and development, accelerating the development of surgical robots, intelligent diagnostic systems, and so on, as well as expediting the innovation and clinical application promotion of intelligent medical equipment products.
The industry believes that the "Implementation Opinions" is a programmatic document at the national level promoting the deep integration of artificial intelligence and manufacturing. Its impact on the pharmaceutical industry is strategic, full-chain, and systematic, and it will profoundly change the innovation, regulation, and competition in the pharmaceutical industry.
In the future, driven by this document, the capability of AI-driven research and development and production will become the fundamental entry barrier and core competitiveness for pharmaceutical companies. Leading enterprises will accelerate their efforts to develop proprietary AI platforms either independently or through cooperation. Meanwhile, enterprises that can take the lead in completing digital and intelligent transformation and leveraging AI to reduce costs and increase efficiency will gain a significant advantage, while small and medium-sized enterprises that are slow to transform may face greater pressure.
In fact, with the support of special policies and funds, the intelligent development of China's pharmaceutical industry has begun to enter the stage of full-chain value realization in recent years. Currently, progress and breakthroughs are being made in generative AI-driven drug discovery, AI-enabled formulation development and clinical implementation, upgrading of computing power and platform infrastructure, as well as large-scale commercial cooperation.
On January 5, 2026, Insilico Medicine announced that it had reached a multi-year research and development collaboration with Servier, with a total amount of $888 million. The two parties will jointly utilize Insilico's proprietary artificial intelligence platform, Pharma.AI, to focus on challenging targets in the anti-tumor field, identifying and developing novel therapeutic drugs.
On November 5, 2025, XtalPi announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Ailux, had reached a multi-target strategic cooperation and platform licensing agreement with Eli Lilly, with a total value of up to $345 million. Eli Lilly will leverage Ailux's proprietary platform to accelerate the discovery and development of bispecific antibodies (BsAb) in multiple therapeutic areas, while utilizing its AI antibody R&D platform to expedite research. Ailux is eligible for tens of millions of dollars in upfront payments and recent milestone payments, as well as subsequent R&D, registration, and commercialization milestone payments.
On June 13, 2025, Shijiazhuang Pharmaceutical Group (Shijiazhuang Pharmaceutical) reached a strategic research cooperation agreement with AstraZeneca. The core of this cooperation lies in the "AI engine dual-wheel drive efficient drug discovery platform" independently developed by Shijiazhuang Pharmaceutical. According to the agreement, AstraZeneca will pay an initial payment of $110 million to obtain the option to select drug candidates for selected targets. Shijiazhuang Pharmaceutical is expected to receive up to $1.62 billion in research and development milestone payments (triggered as the project progresses), up to $3.6 billion in sales milestone payments during the commercialization stage, and a single-digit percentage of global net sales revenue after launch.
Overall, the recently released "Implementation Opinions" provides a clearer "roadmap" and strong policy impetus for the intelligent development of China's pharmaceutical industry. In the future, China's pharmaceutical industry will usher in a profound transformation regarding research and development models, production methods, and business logic. Relevant enterprises need to seize the policy window period, strengthen AI layout and cross-industry collaboration, and build long-term competitive advantages.