EHang (Suzhou) Biopharmaceuticals Advances Traditional Chinese Medicine Modernization with Plant-Derived Extracellular Vesicles: IPO Filing Highlights Innovation, Scalable Production, and Global Compliance

Introduction: In recent years, exosomes have gradually transitioned from a cutting-edge concept in the laboratory to clinical translation and consumer-grade applications. Globally, South Korea has leveraged its regulatory advantages to introduce stem cell-derived exosomes into the cosmetics market, while the United States is accelerating its strategic layout in new drug clinical trials. In China, Carrier Biomed is carving out an industrialization path for exosomes that combines Chinese characteristics with international competitiveness, using “plant/traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)-derived exosomes” as its entry point...

As the global health industry accelerates its iterative development, consumer demand for natural, effective, safe, and sustainable health products continues to grow. Particularly in the broader health and wellness sector, the modernized application of botanicals and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has become a primary frontier for industry innovation, with exosomes emerging as a core technological pathway for realizing the informational value reconstruction of these resources.

Professor Hang Yin, the Founding Scientist of Carrier Biomed, boasts profound academic expertise. As the lead investigator for traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) research at Tsinghua University and a member of the National Technical Committee on Standardization of Traditional Chinese Medicines, Professor Yin’s team spearheaded the development and completion of international ISO standard certifications for multiple TCM materials, including Scutellaria baicalensis, Forsythia suspensa, and Epimedium. As a founding committee member of the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV), Editor-in-Chief of the field’s most authoritative journal, Journal of Extracellular Vesicles, and Head of the Industrial Translation Group of the Chinese Society for Extracellular Vesicles (CSEV), Professor Yin’s team has dedicated ten years to inventing a specific probe capture technology based on extracellular vesicle membrane curvature and phospholipid structure. Building on this innovation, Carrier Biomed has secured more than 20 issued invention patents, covering extracellular vesicle purification as well as core processes and various directions for industrial translation.

Professor Lesley Cheng, a Director of Carrier Biomed and long-term international partner, together with the team led by Professor Andrew Hill, Vice-Chancellor of Victoria University and the second President of the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV), have dedicated decades to research on extracellular vesicle biomarkers. They have completed thousands of prospective clinical follow-up studies in Australia. In China, they have led the Carrier team to collaborate with multiple top-tier clinical institutions, including The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University and Huashan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University, completing extracellular vesicle liquid biopsy studies involving nearly 2,000 cases of Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. The developed Class III medical device diagnostic products have achieved sensitivity and specificity exceeding 90%. Notably, the project “Early Warning Monitoring and Intervention Research for Alzheimer’s Disease Based on Peripheral Biomarkers,” which leverages brain-derived extracellular vesicle isolation technology and was conducted in collaboration with the Army Medical Center, has received support from the National Key R&D Program. In the field of advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs) based on stem cell-derived exosomes, Carrier Biomed has initiated investigator-initiated trials (IITs) exploring exosome-based therapies for respiratory and neurological diseases at relevant research and clinical institutions.

In the critical area of subpopulation analysis for plant-derived exosomes, Carrier Biomed has partnered with Professor Gu Hongzhou’s team at Shanghai Jiao Tong University—led by a recipient of the National Distinguished Young Scholar Award—to jointly recruit postdoctoral researchers for a project aimed at establishing a precision sorting platform and a multimodal database for plant-derived exosomes using ‘DNA Brick’ technology and multi-omics approaches.

Chinese Herbal Medicine/Plant-Derived Extracellular Vesicles, as the core strategic focus of Carrier Biomed, are reshaping the landscape of the broader health industry with their natural origin and unique advantages. Compared to traditional animal-derived stem cell exosomes, plant-derived extracellular vesicles demonstrate breakthrough value in safety, scalable production, stability of bioactivity, and cross-species signal transduction: their natural origin helps avoid the risk of immune rejection, overcoming donor variability and ethical constraints associated with animal-derived materials. The naturally active components from plants and their superior physicochemical stability significantly broaden application scenarios in precision medicine, health consumer products, and biologics, aligning with the global trend toward green and sustainable industrial development.

To support the industrialization of this cutting-edge direction, Carrier Biomed has established three core systems: a multi-omics database of exosomes derived from nearly 100 plant and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) sources, which systematically records their biological characteristics and efficacy differences to provide data support for active substance screening; a cross-disciplinary efficacy evaluation network encompassing more than 10 standardized assessment models—including skincare (27 anti-aging and repair indicators), hair care (7 indicators for hair loss prevention and melanin promotion), and neuromodulation (6 indicators for sleep management and neuroprotection)—utilizing relevant microbial, cellular, and animal models, as well as 3D-printed tissues and organoids; and a full-chain technology platform featuring "precise isolation, efficient expansion, and stable cryopreservation," enabling scalable production of both liquid formulations (single batch: 5–50 L, concentration: 5×10¹⁰ particles/L) and lyophilized formulations (single batch: 0.1–4 kg, concentration: 6×10¹¹ particles/g).

Carrier Biomed strictly adheres to GMP (Grade B+A) cleanroom standards and the ISO 13485 medical device quality management system. It has established a large-scale production base exceeding 2,000 square meters in Suzhou Industrial Park, achieving standardized, end-to-end production from raw material screening to exosome extraction, purification, and cryopreservation. Equipped with automated exosome extraction instruments and tangential flow filtration (TFF) purification systems, the facility enables standardized processing of various raw materials, including fresh or processed medicinal herbs (roots, stems, leaves, flowers), algae, and microorganisms. The purity of its exosomes consistently exceeds 90%, surpassing the industry bottleneck of 70% associated with traditional ultracentrifugation methods.

In terms of quality control, the company has established a three-tier testing mechanism covering raw materials, semi-finished products, and finished goods: during the raw material stage, supplier qualification audits and dual-standard incoming inspections (appearance and activity indicators) are implemented; during production, key parameters such as particle size distribution and microbial content of semi-finished products are monitored; and at the finished product stage, comprehensive testing is conducted for exosome concentration, microbial limits, and stability. By building a full-process data traceability system, Carrier Biomed also actively promotes the development of industry standards. The company has obtained INCI international certification for Paeonia lactiflora exosomes and holds multiple patents for extraction processes. Its production system is ISO 9001 certified, providing a solid guarantee for the compliant application of plant-derived exosomes in functional skincare and regenerative medicine.

Carrier Biomed has established a collaborative innovation system integrating industry, academia, and research, engaging in deep cooperation with multiple medical institutions: it is exploring the neural mechanisms by which Agrimonia pilosa exosomes regulate refractory pain in partnership with Beijing Jishuitan Hospital, and has submitted an application for the National Natural Science Foundation of China; it is collaborating with the Chinese PLA General Hospital (301 Hospital) to verify the anti-inflammatory and tissue-regenerative efficacy of Paeonia lactiflora/Centella asiatica exosomes in wound repair; it is working with Beijing Chaoyang Hospital to advance the clinical translation of Portulaca oleracea/Centella asiatica exosomes for dry eye disease and sleep disorders; and it is joining forces with Shanxi Medical University to elucidate the microenvironmental regulatory mechanisms underlying Red Ginseng exosome-induced tumor cell apoptosis.

Based on functional validation using over 1,000 clinical samples, Carrier Biomed has established a scientifically evidence-based framework for the application of plant-derived exosomes in medical interventions, health management, and efficacy-driven skincare. Furthermore, Carrier Biomed collaborates with leading domestic and international enterprises, such as Shanghai Jahwa, to focus on developing targeted delivery technologies for exosomes in the premium anti-aging sector, jointly exploring new pathways to enhance the transdermal efficiency and bioavailability of active ingredients.

Bozhou is a renowned longevity hub in China, the world’s largest distribution and pricing center for traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) materials, and the nation’s largest production base for TCM decoction pieces, TCM extracts, and TCM-based health beverages. In 2024, its industry scale reached RMB 210.26 billion, representing an 11.9% year-on-year increase. As the hometown of the legendary physician Hua Tuo, TCM serves as Bozhou’s “most distinctive golden brand.” During a meeting with Professor Hang Yin, Co-founder of Carrier Biomed, and Dr. Zhentao Li, General Manager, the principal leaders of the Bozhou Municipal Party Committee and Municipal People’s Government stated: “Bozhou is coordinately developing three key sectors—modern TCM, food-and-medicine-homologous general health, and herbal cosmetics—with the aim of building itself into the World Capital of TCM, a national highland for the TCM industry, and a ‘bridgehead’ for TCM’s entry into international markets.” Both parties highly concurred that exosomes represent a core technological track for the modernization, digitalization, industrialization, and internationalization of Chinese herbal medicine.

During the 2025 International (Bozhou) Traditional Chinese Medicine Expo, Carrier Biomed signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Bozhou Municipal Government and the Bozhou High-Tech Industrial Development Zone. The parties will establish a large-scale plant exosome production base and an AI-enabled TCM exosome omics database model in the core area of the Bozhou National Chinese Herbal Medicine Resources Bank. Leveraging a scalable platform for plant exosome preparation, the base will build a comprehensive production system covering everything from raw material extraction to quality control, with an expected single-batch production capacity of over 500 liters. This collaboration fully leverages Bozhou’s advantages in authentic medicinal herbs and industrial policies. By adopting a synergistic “technology + industry + policy” model, it aims to promote the industrial mass production of exosome-based pharmaceutical products and accelerate the modernization of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Leveraging Bozhou’s robust industrial ecosystem and supportive policies, Carrier Biomed’s Bozhou base can achieve an optimization of over 30% in total factor costs, covering areas such as facility infrastructure, labor, and logistics. This cost model has been validated by local enterprises, demonstrating a comprehensive savings rate of 32.6%, with strong replicability and sustainability. This collaboration not only involves investment, financing, and industrial empowerment for Carrier Biomed but also sets a benchmark for integrating exosome technology with local characteristic industries, thereby facilitating regional economic transformation and upgrading as well as the high-quality development of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).

Leveraging its independently developed platform and collaborative industry-academia-research network, Carrier Biomed has established a product portfolio of plant-derived extracellular vesicles spanning the pharmaceutical, healthcare, and daily chemical sectors. In the field of sleep health, the company has integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicinal plant resources to screen 11 types of sedative and anxiolytic exosomes (such as those from Ziziphi Spinosae Semen and lavender). By combining this with a GABA/BDNF biomarker evaluation system, it has developed compound formulations including a Ziziphi Spinosae Semen–Schisandrae Chinensis Fructus nasal delivery system (to shorten sleep onset latency) and a Passiflora–Chamomile gel (to enhance deep sleep). In the pain management sector, Carrier Biomed has replaced traditional organic solvent carriers with water-based hydrogel patches. By integrating single-component analysis of dozens of herbal exosomes with multi-target synergistic compound formulations, it has created a three-tier analgesic regimen covering indications such as neuralgia and soft tissue injuries. In the skincare segment, the company has launched over 70 exosome-enriched essences featuring ingredients like White Peony Root and Ginseng, addressing anti-inflammatory repair for sensitive skin, skin brightening, and firming and anti-aging.

In terms of delivery technology innovation, the company has pioneered a multi-route precision drug administration system: The intranasal delivery system enables rapid brain entry via direct mucosal absorption, making it suitable for neuromodulation scenarios; transdermal gel patches employ penetration-enhancing and sustained-release technologies to improve targeting of local tissues; and oral lyophilized formulations utilize microencapsulation technology to ensure the stable release of exosomes in the gastrointestinal tract, providing technical support for home-based health management.

Leveraging its robust scientific research and clinical foundation, along with significant advantages in the plant exosome industry, Carrier Biomed has attracted numerous outstanding partners. The company has established a dual-engine business model driven by raw material CRDMO services and the development of blockbuster products in the general health sector, with related businesses currently experiencing rapid growth at a monthly rate exceeding 20%.

Extracellular vesicles serve as a fundamental mechanism for intercellular communication and act as important “messengers” paving the way for the future health industry, while plant-derived extracellular vesicles inject new green and sustainable connotations into this field. As the chairing unit of the Extracellular Vesicle Special Committee under the China Biopharmaceutical Industry Chain Innovation and Translation Consortium, Carrier Biomed will uphold the philosophy of “science-driven, quality-first, and win-win cooperation,” continuously leading the development of research and applications in extracellular vesicles, and contributing greater strength to human health.