When Samantha Du returned to her native China in 2001 with a mission to build a pharmaceuticals company, the move seemed like a terrible mistake. 当2001年杜莹(Samantha Du)带着创立一家制药公司的愿景返回祖国时，她的行径或许看起来一个可怕的错误。She had left behind a comfortable life in the US where she spent the previous 12 years, first as an academic scientist and later in roles of rising seniority at Pfizer. Back in China, she felt like an alien in her own country as she tried to start her venture. 她退出了在美国的优厚生活。她在那里早已生活了12年，趁此机会读书博士，后来在辉瑞(Pfizer)工作，期间大大取得晋升。

返回中国，当她设法自己创业时，她终究感觉自己像一个外国人。The nadir came during a business meeting in which the refreshments came in the form of hard liquor. She recalls: “Everyone drank until they fell asleep. Then they woke up and signed the contract. While they were sleeping I left the room and cried. I had left a great career and a big house in rural Connecticut. Now here I was negotiating with drunk people.” 最差劲的时刻是在一次商务会晤期间——饮料饮品只有烈性酒。

她回想道：“每个人都喝睡觉。醒来时之后，他们就把合约投了。在他们睡觉时，我走进房间大哭了一场。

我抛弃了一份很有前途的事业，还有优雅的康涅狄格州的大房子。现在，我却在和一群醉汉谈判。” Several times she came close to quitting but was dissuaded by business partners. Fifteen years later, her persistence appears to be working. As, first, chief scientific officer of Hutchison China MediTech and now chief executive of Zai Lab, she is prominent among a wave of biotech entrepreneurs aiming to modernise China’s pharma industry and make the country a force in drug development. 好几次她都差点退出，但是被合伙人劝阻寄居。15年后，她的坚决或许正在带给报酬。

她趁此机会兼任和黄中国医药科技(Hutchison China MediTech)首席科技官，现在任生物科技公司再鼎医药(Zai Lab)首席执行官。在一批有志于推展中国医药产业现代化并使中国在药物研发领域崭露头角的生物技术创业者中，她是引人注目的一员。Most of them are “sea turtles” — the name given to Chinese professionals trained in the west who have returned home armed with qualifications and experience. All nine of Zai Lab’s top management studied at US universities. They have been drawn home by rapidly improving opportunities in China’s life science sector as Beijing pumps resources into its quest for a more innovative, high-value economy. 他们大都是“海龟（归）”——在西方进修过，带着文凭和经验回国的专业人才。再鼎医药的9名低管全都曾在美国大学里进修过。

随着北京方面投放大量资源、谋求将中国经济打造出得极具创新性和高附加值，中国生命科学领域的机遇较慢激增，将他们更有回国。After a PhD in biochemistry at the University of Cincinnati, Ms Du joined Pfizer as a research scientist and ended up in charge of licensing some of the US group’s drugs around the world. She had not thought about leaving until a call came from Hutchison Whampoa, the holding company of Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing, inviting her to head a new pharma enterprise. “They said, ‘You have already achieved so much in the US. Why not come back and do something for China?’” 在美国辛辛那提大学(University of Cincinnati)取得生物化学博士学位后，杜莹重新加入了辉瑞兼任研究科学家，最后做主管该公司部分药物在全球的许可工作。

她未曾想要过离开了辉瑞，以后收到来自和记黄埔(Hutchison Whampoa)——香港大亨李嘉诚(Li Ka-shing)的控股公司——的一个电话，邀她力挽狂澜一家新的制药公司。“他们说道，‘你在美国早已获得这么多成绩。为什么不回去为中国做到些事呢’？” With the resources of one of Asia’s richest men behind her, she criss-crossed China looking for assets to build a company around. It did not prove an easy task. Instead of hidden scientific gems, Ms Du found a domestic industry more interested in eking out margins from cheap generic drugs than investing in research and development. “The mindset was all about trading rather than innovation,” she recalls. 在这位亚洲富豪的实力雄厚资源反对下，她游历中国各地，找寻正式成立一家公司所需的各种资产。事实证明，这并非一项非常简单的工作。

杜莹找到，相比于投资研发、找到隐蔽的科学宝藏，国内医药产业对于从廉价仿造药中赚利润更加感兴趣。“大家在想要的都是如何展开交易，而非创意，”她回想道。Gradually, however, China MediTech, or Chi-Med, began building its own RD capabilities in partnership with western drugmakers including Eli Lilly and AstraZeneca. The company floated on London’s Aim stock market in 2006 and is planning a dual listing on Nasdaq this month as it pushes two cancer drugs through late-stage trials, with five other products in earlier studies. 然而，渐渐地，和黄医药开始与礼来(Eli Lilly)和阿斯利康(AstraZeneca)等西方制药商合作，创建自律研发能力。2006年，该公司在伦敦证交所的第二板交易市场(AIM)上市，并计划本月在纳斯达克(Nasdaq)已完成第二上市。

该公司有两种抗癌药物正在展开后期临床试验，另外还有5种产品正处于早期研究阶段。Ms Du left Chi-Med in 2011 to take charge of Chinese healthcare investments for Sequoia Capital, the Silicon Valley venture capital firm, before founding Zai Lab in 2013. The company has licensed experimental treatments from big pharma partners including Sanofi and Bristol-Myers Squibb, but Ms Du’s long-term focus is on developing homegrown drugs. Zai in January raised $100m in private finance from Sequoia and other big international investors and recently opened an RD base in Shanghai. “We want to be the first Chinese biotech company with global standing,” says Ms Du. 杜莹于2011年离开了和黄医药，之后重新加入硅谷风险投资公司红杉资本(Sequoia Capital)，负责管理在华医疗投资业务，在2013年创办再鼎医药。再鼎医药从赛诺菲(Sanofi)和百时美施贵宝(Bristol-Myers Squibb)等大型制药商伙伴那里，取得了一些正处于临床试验阶段的药物的许可，但杜莹的长年目标在于研发本土药物。

今年1月，再鼎医药从红杉资本及其他大型国际投资机构处筹措了1亿美元，并于近期在上海成立了研发基地。“我们期望沦为中国首家享有盛名全球的生物技术公司，”杜莹说道。She is hardly alone in that ambition. BeiGene, a company founded by Xiaodong Wang, former professor of biomedical science at the University of Texas, last month raised $158m on Nasdaq to accelerate development of four promising cancer drugs. 享有此等雄心的人好比她一个。

前德克萨斯大学(University of Texas)生物医学教授王晓东创立了生物科技公司百济神州(BeiGene)，该公司上月在纳斯达克筹得1.58亿美元，用作减缓4种很有前景的抗癌药物的研发。Perhaps the most successful “sea turtle” in China’s life science sector is Ge Li, who earned his doctorate at Columbia University and became a biotech entrepreneur in the US before returning home to found WuXi AppTec 15 years ago. The company has since become the biggest Chinese contract research organisation, performing RD and manufacturing for many of the world’s biggest pharma groups. 中国生命科学领域最顺利的“海龟”，也许要数在哥伦比亚大学(Columbia University)取得博士学位的李革。

他在美国时已是一名生物技术创业者，15年前回国创立了无锡药明康德(WuXi AppTec)。该公司如今已沦为中国仅次于的研发外包机构，为许多世界顶级医药集团获取研发和生产服务。About 5 per cent of WuXi AppTec’s 10,000-strong workforce was trained overseas. 在药明康德的1万多名员工中，大约5%曾在海外进修。

Among them is Hongye Sun, who studied at Harvard and spent a decade with a Californian biotech company before being lured back to run WuXi’s genomic sequencing business. Mr Sun says the biggest difference with the US is the speed of decision making. 孙洪业就是其中之一。他曾就读于哈佛大学(Harvard)，在加州一家生物科技公司工作过10年，后来被更有回国，负责管理药明康德的基因组测序业务。

孙洪业说道，这里与美国仅次于有所不同在于决策的速度。“In America it felt like I needed 60 meetings to get something done, whereas here I need four.” “在美国感觉必须进60次会议才能搞定的事，在这里只必须进4次会。

” WuXi AppTec has tried to harness the vigour of Chinese business culture while importing the quality standards learnt by its top scientists in the west. “We have 15 minutes of compliance training every morning,” says Mr Sun. “We tell our people, ‘We cannot afford a single mistake because if something goes wrong it could ruin the company in a day’”. 药明康德企图在利用中国商业文化活力的同时，引进公司顶级科学家在西方教给的质量标准。“我们每天上午要展开15分钟的合规培训，”孙洪业说道，“我们告诉他员工，‘我们一丁点儿错误都无法忍受，因为如果经常出现错误，就有可能让公司毁于一旦’。” While returnees are leading the development of China’s biotech sector, they are increasingly drawing from an expanding local talent pool to build their businesses. China overtook the US in 2008 as the world’s biggest producer of PhDs, and the number has continued to grow rapidly. 虽然海归们引导着中国生物技术行业的发展，但他们于是以日益从不断扩大的本土人才库中考古人才，来发展自己的业务。

2008年，中国多达美国沦为世界培育博士最少的国家，而中国博士的数量还在之后快速增长。Critics question whether the increasing volume is matched by quality. Mr Sun says standards at the top Chinese universities are high, with fierce competition for entry. But he concedes that locally trained scientists can be too deferential. 抨击人士批评，在数量减少的同时，中国博士的素质否跟得上。孙洪业说道，中国顶尖高校的标准很高，入学竞争十分白热化。

但他也否认，中国本土培育的科学家过分通好。“I tell employees to argue with me and call me by my name, not my title. I tell them, ‘If you use my title, you are less likely to tell me the truth’.” “我告诉他员工可以跟我争辩，失礼我的名字，而不是我的头衔。我告诉他他们，‘如果你们叫我的头衔，就不太可能跟我说实话’。

” With soaring numbers of scientists, rising investment in RD and growing demand for medicines from an ageing population, China has all the ingredients for growth in its biotech sector. Ms Du and others like her are aiming to replicate the success of US companies such as Genentech and Amgen, which suddenly appeared in the 1980s to become forces in global pharma. 中国生物技术行业快速增长的条件早已全部不具备：科学家数量剧增、研发投资激增、日益老龄化的人口对药品的市场需求日益增长。杜莹与其他像她一样的创业者的目标是，拷贝像基因泰克(Genentech)和安进(Amgen)等美国公司那样的顺利，这两家公司在上世纪80年代横空出世，很快在全球制药行业崭露头角。

As a service provider to local and foreign companies alike, WuXi AppTec is well placed to assess progress. Steve Yang, the company’s chief operating officer and a veteran of AstraZeneca, Pfizer and the University of California, urges caution. 药明康德同时为国内、外制药公司获取服务，应当有资格评估中国在制药领域获得的进展。但该公司首席运营官杨青(Steve Yang)敦促维持慎重。杨青毕业于加州大学(University of California)，曾在阿斯利康、辉瑞兼任高管。

“There is a group of Chinese companies that are well positioned, but how many years did it take for the world to appreciate Genentech? It took decades. The race is on, but it’s still very early.” “现在有不少中国企业发展势头很好，但基因泰克用了多少年才取得全世界的接纳？几十年。中国早已重新加入竞赛，但胜败还近未见分晓。

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