See what a typical day is like for reporter Xu Hu.
Q&A
Describe your role at Citeline.
I am a senior reporter based in Shanghai, China. I write news and analysis stories about activities of Chinese biopharma and biotech companies, trends in the China biopharma industry as well as regulatory policies relating to drug development in the country.
You write for both Scrip and Pink Sheet. How are those similar/different?
It is a good question. From my perspective so far, I can’t think of many similarities between the two other than their association that changes in regulatory policies sometimes help me make sense of developments in the biopharma industry, and vice versa.
In terms of differences, I feel there are more story angles on one topic for Scrip stories, while for stories on regulatory policies in China, I personally feel that the reporting angles are relatively limited. In addition, writing styles and tones used can be different between these two publications. One more difference that I can think of is that writing Pink Sheet stories is more straightforward.
What’s a ‘typical’ day like for you?
The first thing in the morning at work is usually doing quick checks on fresh news releases from companies and regulatory authorities such as the national drug regulator for any time-sensitive stories.
If there is a time-sensitive piece, then I will work on it and aim to get it ready for editing as soon as possible. If there is no such story on that day, I either continue working on a story that is less time sensitive such as a data-driven ones or doing research for new story ideas such as interviews.
Also importantly, a “typical” day for me involves drinking plenty of water and one cup of coffee after lunch.
How do you deal with deadline pressure?
I would say my go-to approach is a combination of having a plan, being overly focused and practicing deep breathing.
What are the favorite parts of your job?
My favorite parts are: observing the biopharma industry’s development and companies’ ups and downs over time; having opportunities to attend local conferences in person that cover topics on R&D and policies to hear industry experts’ views and experience the pulse of China’s biopharma; and having opportunities to ask company executives or industry experts questions to gain a deeper understanding of what is happening and why in this field.
What challenges have you faced in covering stories?
As for covering stories on the China biopharma industry, when it comes to getting in touch with mid-sized and small-sized companies for comments or interviews, it may be challenging sometimes to get a response from them. For covering regulatory policy-related stories, getting diverse views can be challenging.
Being based in China, how do you handle time differences with other staff members?
Time differences haven’t been notable for me as we work closely within the APAC team most of the time. Occasionally, when workings with colleagues in other regions that requires more timely communications, like gathering at Teams meetings, I would do more forward planning on my time, especially towards the end of my working day.
What are you working on this year?
With news reporting, my understanding so far is that there is certain level of predictability so that I can plan potential stories on certain trends and topics. At the same time, there is also a high possibility that I don’t know what I am going to work on tomorrow, especially on the side of reporting company news.
For reporting China news for Pink Sheet, a topic I know I will write about is, for instance, the annual update on the National Drug Reimbursement List covered by China’s basic national medical insurance scheme towards the end of each year. Other biopharma-related topics would be less predictable, and we keep a close eye on it throughout the year.
For Scrip stories, I will keep an eye out for topics such as Chinese firms in the field of AI-driven drug discovery and weight management.
Meanwhile, we also go on reporting trips for Pink Sheet and Scrip to several local conferences that take place every year.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
In my spare time, I like reading non-fiction books, listening to podcasts, doing street photography, having long-distance walks, café hopping and going to any architecture related exhibits.
What trends do you see coming up in pharma, particularly in APAC/Chinas?
In China, based on my observation, on the regulatory policy side, the trend in accelerating market access of new therapies, especially innovative products, via various approaches will likely continue. Another one is likely in the use of data from global multiregional clinical trials for drug registration purpose in China.
On the commercial side, similar to last year, licensing deals and partnerships between Chinese and foreign firms are still worth tracking.
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
I’m just grateful for the opportunity to be in this company and work with such a magnificent team. I think we're made up of a bunch of great individuals and I’m looking forward to what we're going to do next.
