Forward Pharma Takes Home 2nd Place In The "Star Of Entrepreneurship" Competition

The Innovation Nanshan "Star of Entrepreneurship" competition in Nanshan District, Shenzhen began in 2008, and is the longest-running innovation and entrepreneurship competition sponsored by a local government in China. By 2017, it had already held its tenth edition, and now every year, the "Shenzhen Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition" and the "National Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition" are both originated from it. The "Star of Entrepreneurship" competition has also become a powerful driving force for Nanshan companies to go global and internationalize, and has become a beautiful business card for Nanshan's innovation and entrepreneurship activities, setting up a banner of "mass entrepreneurship and innovation".

Forward Pharma participated in the 2017 Innovation Nanshan "Star of Entrepreneurship" competition with their project "Industrialization development of a new targeted drug for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer". After an intense preliminary and final round competition, they successfully advanced to the Life Medicine/Health Industry Finals of the competition. On October 30th, 2017, the finals were held successfully at the 8th floor of Outsun Electric Power Building, No.3 Songpingshan Road, North Area of Shenzhen Nanshan High-Tech Industrial Park. A total of 48 excellent projects from various industries participated in this final round, where all kinds of medical products related to the future and professional academic medicine and healthcare projects gathered together. The atmosphere was very enthusiastic, and in the end, Forward Pharma won the second place in the industry finals, taking home the second prize.

The Nanshan Entrepreneurship Star Competition in Shenzhen was launched in mid-May as part of the 2017 Innovation Nanshan program. This year's competition is open to start-ups and innovative small and medium-sized enterprises with forward-looking, innovative, and independently patented projects from all over the world. The competition is divided into two categories: the Enterprise Growth Group and the Start-up Team Group, with the latter including student teams.

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the competition, and the organizing committee has upgraded the format. Instead of gathering participants for a second round of selection as in previous years, the semi-final has been replaced with industry-specific competitions held in cooperation with ten listed companies in Shenzhen and involving a "pairing" process to help participants find top industry resources and effectively promote entrepreneurship. With a "5+5" grouping model based on industry units, the competition aims to select more high-quality innovation and entrepreneurship projects centered on Nanshan, making the technological innovation sector in Nanshan more diverse.

After a month of intense competition, 463 projects were selected to participate in the industry finals from the global 31 sub-venues that hosted the preliminary rounds. In late October, the Innovation Nanshan 2017 Entrepreneurship Star Competition officially kicked off with the industry finals. The competition deeply integrates with the Nanshan physical economy, and according to the strategic emerging industries outlined in the 2017 Shenzhen and Nanshan District 13th five-year plans, invited 15 leading industry companies, including Tencent, Kingdee International Software Group Co., Ltd., A8 New Media Group Limited, and ZTE Corporation, to title the top ten industry competitions and expand the influence of the industry competitions.

Through this competition, the rapid rise of emerging bio-pharmaceutical industry in Shenzhen is noticed, which ignites our excitement and entrepreneurial spirit to the maximum possible extent. We have gained invaluable insights from interactions with peers and evaluations from expert judges. Since the beginning of the year, when Forward Pharma relocated to Shenzhen Nanshan, we have been carrying the genes of innovation and entrepreneurship with us, which bring us inexhaustible vitality and energy. Forward Pharma will launch A-round equity financing next year with 4-5 Class I new drug product pipelines from different countries. We understand that entrepreneurship requires lasting passion and focus, as well as tenacious willpower. At every step on the path to achieving goals, we must remain resolute and steadfast.