At the 2026 Yabuli Forum Summer Annual Meeting, held from September 4-6 in Chengdu, Sichuan, Zhu Jun, CEO of HENLIUS, stated that the primary mission of the healthcare industry is to help people live longer, healthier, and happier lives. However, he noted that progress in oncology treatment over the past two decades has remained limited, making AI integration an inevitable path for the biopharmaceutical sector to break through existing bottlenecks.

Zhu acknowledged that while the number of innovative drugs approved by the state in recent years has taken a global lead, improvements in clinical efficacy remain challenging. Taking lung cancer as an example, he pointed out that the overall survival rate over the past 20 years has only risen from 20% to 40%, and progression-free survival has improved by just about six months. He stressed that without further AI-driven advancements, the biopharmaceutical industry will continue to operate in a primitive state.

Looking ahead, Zhu emphasized that all pharmaceutical companies will, by necessity, become AI-driven enterprises, and there will be no biopharma companies that do not rely on AI. He added that amid global transformations, if a company can effectively leverage AI, target precise patient populations, and address real clinical pain points, capturing even one opportunity out of ten would be sufficient to sustain its long-term growth.

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