SHANGHAI'S biopharmaceutical industry's output has risen by 15 percent annually for four years in a row, local officials said yesterday.

The gain makes it one of the few industries to expand by double digits amid the city's slower economic growth. The industry achieved 208.48 billion yuan (US$33.9 billion) in output last year.

Boosting biopharmaceutical development not only benefits the city's economy but also helps cut health care cost for the public because home-grown products and medicines are cheaper than imported ones, officials said at a briefing for the industry's development in the city from 2009 through 2012.

"Take heart stent for example, the imported stent was sold for 35,000 yuan each. After homemade stents were available and cost only one third of the price, the imported ones also dropped to 20,000 yuan," said Xu Zuxin, vice director of Shanghai Science and Technology Commission.

Shanghai targets high-end products, and the city has developed two antibody drugs.

"Among the 10 top-selling drugs in the world, five are antibody drugs," said Shou Ziqi, director of the commission. "Previously, we had to import such drugs, which are more effective and have smaller side effects than chemical medicines."

The city will still support the industry under a new four-year plan which starts this year.