At the China Development Forum 2026, held in Beijing from March 22 to 23 under the theme "China's 15th Five-Year Plan: High-Quality Development and Shared New Opportunities," the CEO of Novartis AG, Vasant Narasimhan, emphasized two core topics during a session on the "Healthy China 2030" initiative and the big health industry. The first was the critical importance of investment in healthcare innovation, and the second was how to ensure that innovation continues to develop in China to meet future challenges.

Regarding the significance of innovation investment, Narasimhan pointed out that medical innovation not only saves lives and improves the quality of life for millions but also serves as a powerful driver of economic growth. It creates high-skilled jobs and supports advanced manufacturing. Data shows that for every dollar invested in the life sciences sector, approximately three dollars in economic output is generated. Furthermore, each job created within the industry leads to five additional jobs across the broader economy.

Narasimhan stressed that emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, are further amplifying the impact of medical innovation. Currently, AI is widely applied in the pharmaceutical industry, aiding in new drug discovery, shortening certain phases of drug development, and providing decision-making support in areas like drug discovery, safety prediction, clinical site selection, and patient recruitment. This type of innovation not only fosters new treatments and accelerates R&D processes but can also reshape the entire healthcare ecosystem. This is particularly important for China, which is transitioning to an innovation-driven growth model and addressing the challenges of an aging population. China's strong capabilities in digital innovation and AI, combined with advancements in life sciences, hold the potential to achieve new breakthroughs in healthcare and inject fresh momentum into economic growth.

On the topic of sustaining medical innovation, Narasimhan stated that the continuous improvement of the innovation ecosystem will benefit not only patients in China but also contribute to global health. However, as biotechnological innovation accelerates, often at the intersection of multiple technologies and disciplines, regulatory and healthcare systems must evolve in tandem with innovation. Using the example of radioligand therapy, an advanced area of focus for Novartis in oncology, this precise radiopharmaceutical treatment delivers radiation directly to tumor cells while protecting healthy tissue, offering hope for patients with advanced and metastatic cancers. To ensure that such innovations provide safe, reliable, and efficient medical services to patients, it is essential to strengthen a sustainable innovation ecosystem.