对话Co-CEO杨青博士：药明康德深耕欧洲，助力科学成果更快走向患者 | Bilingual

一直以来，创新都是欧洲的底色，正如德国是一片被科研滋养了上百年的土地。马克斯·普朗克研究所、弗劳恩霍夫协会、海德堡大学、慕尼黑工业大学——这些名字本身就是欧洲科学精神的代名词。无数高度专业化的中小型生物科技公司亦选择在这里扎根。

“欧洲孕育了杰出的科学发现。”杨青博士表示，“真正的课题，不在于科学发现本身，而在于如何将这些科学成果转化为候选药物、研发项目，并最终成为惠及患者的新药。”

学术界擅长的是“从0到1”——发现一个新机制、一个新靶点，发一篇顶刊论文。但从“1”走到“10”、走到“100”，需要的是一整套工业化能力：化合物的优化、药代动力学的评估、毒理学的研究、制剂工艺的开发、放大生产的质量控制。这段路程，本身就是药物研发中最需要协同的部分。

在杨青博士看来，欧洲生物医药产业当前面临的核心课题并非科学创新不足，而是如何提升从早期科学发现到产业化落地的转化效率。

（延伸阅读：从科学发现到产业化落地，欧洲如何跨越“转化缺口”？对于这一核心议题，在近期的柏林bio:cap生命科学与AI创新投资大会上，杨青博士受邀发表主题演讲并分享了深度洞察。）

“任何能够加快这一转化过程的能力，都能够创造价值。”杨青博士说，“这正是我们希望发挥专长的地方。”

药明康德在德国的持续布局，就是对这一判断的最好印证。十年前，药明康德通过收购德国慕尼黑的Crelux，首次在欧洲建立了运营实体。彼时，团队只有约30名员工，占地约700平方米。由此，药明康德在欧洲最富科学活力的心脏地带，拥有了一个支点。

药明康德德国慕尼黑基地

十年后的今天，慕尼黑基地的员工数已经超过100人，其中约70%拥有硕士或博士学位，实验室和办公面积也扩展到了约3000平方米，并且仍在持续投入建设。“我们的目标，是将这里打造成为药物发现生物学的重要研发中心，更好地支持全球创新。”杨青博士说。

从30人到100人，从700平到3000平，慕尼黑基地不再只是一个“欧洲窗口”，它正在成为药明康德全球研发网络中的重要节点。

欧洲的科学发现，可以通过这个节点，接入药明康德遍布全球的能力平台——从早期发现到临床前研究，再到生产制造，形成一条完整的转化链条。因而，药明康德的全球化网络，得以很好地融入欧洲的创新生态，把欧洲的科研优势和全球的产业化能力连接起来。

用杨青博士的话说，“全球化与本地化是一体两面，相辅相成的。”

经历了多年的深耕，药明康德在欧洲广阔的产业生态圈中，日益赢得了客户的信任。

杨青博士坦言：“信任从来不是一劳永逸的事情，而是需要通过不懈的努力去赢得。科学在不断发展，客户需求也在不断变化。我们所能做的，就是不断精进，持续赢得客户的信任。”

信任不是一个静态的结果，它是一种动态关系，需要在一次次严格的审计中不断被验证。

杨青博士给出了一组数据：仅2025年一年，药明康德就接受了741次来自全球客户、监管机构以及独立第三方的质量审查。这其中，包括50余次监管机构检查，以及约60次信息安全审计。而所有这些审查的结果是——全部保持“无严重发现项”。

“这样的结果并非一蹴而就，而是源于持续不断的努力。”杨青博士说，“每一年，我们都需要再次证明，我们的质量体系、数据保护、知识产权保护以及生产运营标准，始终能够满足客户和监管机构的最高要求。”

一次疏忽就可能影响多年积累的信誉。一个批次的产品质量波动，可能导致一款药物的临床试验推迟数月甚至数年。对于一家服务于全球创新药企的平台来说，信任从不是锦上添花，而是长期合作的基石。

如今，药明康德已将这套客户深度信任的运营体系融入在亚洲、欧洲、北美各基地的方方面面，以更好地赋能全球客户，提供就近服务。

“通过在不同地区建立运营基地，我们能够为客户提供更大的灵活性和更好的供应保障。”杨青博士说，“虽然这些基地分布在全球不同地区，但都遵循统一的全球质量标准，由同一套全球运营体系进行管理。”

这也意味着在药明康德的平台上，一个客户的项目无论落地在亚洲、欧洲还是北美，研发和生产都将以国际化的高品质执行，“全球申报”的每一步都会走得极为扎实。

产业前沿不断会有新的突破产生，现在如此，未来也是如此。

在医药健康产业的浪潮里，科学前行的方向永远是多元的。没有人能准确预言下一个重大突破会从哪里来，也没有人能断言哪条路最终会通向终点。

近年来，靶向蛋白降解和分子胶技术备受关注，被视为药物研发的下一个重要方向。杨青博士对此表达了期待，药明康德也已组建专门的团队在这一领域持续投入。但他很快把话题拉回到一个更宏观的视角上——降解剂也好，其他新兴技术也罢，都只是产业前沿不断涌现的科学突破的一个缩影。

“科学就是一次次突破创新的边界。”杨青博士说，“对于药明康德而言，我们要确保的是，让平台有能力陪伴产业创新走向任何一个可能的方向。”

要实现药明康德的长期愿景，全面的能力与一致性、高质量的全球化体系缺一不可：“我们的愿景始终如一，‘让天下没有难做的药，难治的病’。想要实现这一远大目标，需要我们不断去解决科学、技术以及运营中的诸多挑战。”

“医疗健康行业与其他行业不同。疾病不分国界，没有所谓‘德国版’的心血管疾病，也没有‘美国版’的癌症。世界各地的患者都理应享有获得高质量药物的权利。创新合作也不应设限。科研人员不断分享新的研究成果，知识随之在全球范围内传播。这种开放协作、彼此借鉴的过程，始终是推动科学进步的重要力量。”

从慕尼黑基地到全球网络，从单一支点到创新生态，从国际质量标准到多元化的未来布局——这一切指向的都是同一个目标：让那些能够改变患者命运的药物，更快、更可靠地被创造出来。

而药明康德要做的，就是在科学不断突破边界的道路上，始终站在全球创新者身边，做一个坚定的赋能者。

本文部分内容编译自European Biotech Magazine的专访。

Media Voices | A Conversation with Co-CEO Dr. Steve Yang: WuXi AppTec Bets on Europe to Bring Science to Patients Faster

Global science, local innovation: In an interview with European Biotech Magazine, WuXi AppTec Co-CEO Steve Yang explains why Europe remains a key source of scientific innovation, why the company continues expanding its Munich site, and why trust, quality and international collaboration are essential for the future of drug discovery.

WuXi AppTec is one of the world’s largest providers of research, development, and manufacturing services (CRDMO) for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. The company supports customers across the entire value chain – from early drug discovery through preclinical and clinical development to commercial manufacturing. A science-driven organization, WuXi AppTec has built an international footprint through strategic acquisitions. 

Its protein design center in Gräfelfing, near Munich, is becoming the company’s European center of excellence for drug discovery. WuXi AppTec has maintained a presence in Europe since acquiring Munich-based Crelux in 2016. Since then, the site has undergone continuous expansion and today represents a critical hub for the company’s European research activities.

In an interview with European Biotech Magazine in Berlin, Co-CEO Steve Yang, PhD, explains why he believes Europe plays a pivotal role in scientific innovation, why the Munich site continues to expand, and why trust, quality, and international collaboration remain foundational for the company. Below is a summary of the discussion, where he shared his perspectives on the importance of the German site and WuXi AppTec’s long-term perspective on Europe.

Deepening Roots in Europe, Accelerating the Translation of Innovation

Germany has been nourished by over a century of scientific research. The Max Planck Institute, the Fraunhofer Society, Heidelberg University, and the Technical University of Munich are synonymous with the European scientific spirit. Countless highly-specialized, small and medium-sized biotech companies also have put down roots here.

"Europe generates outstanding science," Steve said. "The challenge is transforming that science into drug candidates, development programs and, ultimately, medicines. Anything that accelerates that translation process creates value. This is where we believe we can contribute."

(Read More: How Can CRDMO Accelerate Innovation in Europe? At the recent bio:cap Life Science & AI Investival held in Berlin, Germany, Dr. Steve Yang, Co-CEO of WuXi AppTec, delivered a keynote address on the theme of accelerating innovation in Europe, sharing his observations and perspectives on the future of the region's biopharmaceutical industry.)

Academia excels at going from "zero to one"— discovering a new mechanism, a new target, publishing a paper in a top-tier journal. But moving from "one" to "ten" and then to "one hundred" requires a full suite of industrial capabilities: compound optimization, pharmacokinetic evaluation, toxicology studies, formulation development, and quality control for scale-up. This part of the drug development journey demands coordination and precision.

In Steve's view, the core challenge currently facing Europe's biomedical industry is not a lack of scientific innovation; it’s how to improve the efficiency of translating early scientific discoveries into industrial applications.

This gap is the reason behind the Munich site expansion. Steve explained: "Our goal is to develop the site into a global center of excellence for discovery biology. When we acquired the Munich company Crelux, the team consisted of about 30 employees working in approximately 700 square meters. Today, roughly 10 years later, the site has grown to more than 100 employees and roughly 70 percent hold a Master's or PhD degree. The laboratory and office space has expanded to about 3,000 square meters, and we continue to invest."

WuXi AppTec Munich Site, Germany 

The Munich location is no longer just a "window on Europe." It’s a key node in WuXi AppTec's global R&D network. European scientific discoveries can, through this location, access to WuXi AppTec's global capabilities—from early discovery to preclinical research to manufacturing—a complete translation chain.

As Steve Yang said: “We believe globalization and localization are two sides of the same coin.”

Trust Is Never Something You Achieve Once and Then Keep Forever

After years of dedicated presence, WuXi AppTec has steadily earned the trust of customers across Europe's broad industrial ecosystem. But trust is not a static outcome; it is a dynamic relationship that must be revalidated through rigorous audits over time.

Dr. Yang was candid: "You don’t earn trust and then keep forever. It must be continuously reestablished. Science evolves and so do customer needs. Our focus is, therefore, on continuous improvement and on earning our customers' trust again and again."

Dr. Yang shared a concrete example with a telling set of figures: "Last year alone, we underwent 741 audits by customers and regulatory authorities. That included more than 50 inspections by regulatory agencies, as well as approximately 60 information security audits. None resulted in critical findings. Maintaining this level of performance requires constant effort. Every year we demonstrate again that our quality systems, our data protection, our intellectual property protection and our manufacturing standards meet the highest expectations."

A single oversight can jeopardize a reputation built over many years. A batch-to-batch quality fluctuation could delay a drug's clinical trials by months or even years. For a platform serving innovative pharmaceutical companies worldwide, trust is the bedrock of long-term collaboration.

Today, WuXi AppTec has embedded this operational system, deeply trusted by customers, into every aspect of its sites across Asia, Europe, and North America, empowering global customers with local services.

By operating facilities across multiple regions, the company offers customers greater flexibility and a more secure supply chain. Although these facilities are geographically distributed, they operate under the same global quality standards managed by the same global organization.

The result is clear. On WuXi AppTec's platform, a customer's project—whether it lands in Asia, Europe, or North America—moves forward under the same exacting international standards. Every step on the road to global regulatory submission is built on ground that has been thoroughly prepared.

Breaking Boundaries, Following the Science Forward

Today, scientific breakthroughs are a constant. However, no one can predict where the next great leap will come from, nor which path will ultimately lead to the destination. That’s why WuXi AppTec has developed capabilities in some of today's most exciting scientific fields such as targeted protein degradation. 

Steve shared: "Today, we have one of the largest scientific teams in the industry working on heterobifunctional molecules, what most people simply call degraders. Every stage of development presents its own scientific challenges, and we aim to provide solutions along that entire journey."

Yet Steve's perspective remains broad. Degraders are just one example of emerging scientific breakthroughs. For WuXi AppTec, what matters is ensuring that the company’s platform has the capability to accompany industrial innovation in whatever direction it takes.

Comprehensive capabilities paired with consistent, high quality global systems will be needed for WuXi AppTec to achieve its long-term vision: "Our vision is simple: every drug can be made, and every disease can be treated. Achieving that requires solving countless scientific, technical, and operational challenges," Steve said. 

"Healthcare is fundamentally different from many other industries," he continued. "Diseases do not recognize national borders. There is no German version of cardiovascular disease, and there is no American version of cancer. Patients everywhere deserve access to high-quality medicines. Science has no borders. Researchers publish discoveries and knowledge spreads around the world. This exchange of knowledge is one of science’s greatest strengths."

From the Munich site to the global network, from a single foothold to an innovation ecosystem, from international quality standards to a diversified future footprint—all of this serves a single goal: to enable medicines that can change patients' lives to be created faster and more reliably.

And what WuXi AppTec must do, along the path where science continues to break boundaries, is to stand firmly beside the world's innovators and be a steadfast enabler.

This article includes content adapted from an interview published in European Biotech Magazine.