Tongxin Bio Files IPO Prospectus Highlighting Full-Chain Layout in Precision Ocular Nutrition Intervention

Ophthalmology is a rare high-growth, high-barrier sector.

This sector not only encompasses a wide range of diseases, a large patient population, and low treatment penetration rates. Moreover, policies such as the “14th Five-Year National Eye Health Plan (2021–2025),” the “Work Plan for the ‘Bright Future’ Campaign to Prevent Myopia in Children and Adolescents (2021–2025),” the “Implementation Plan for Comprehensive Prevention and Control of Myopia in Children and Adolescents,” and the “13th Five-Year National Eye Health Plan (2016–2020)” have continuously strengthened support for the eye health industry, creating broad market opportunities and demonstrating significant potential.

Ophthalmic Patient Flow

Data Source: VCBeat, “2022 Ophthalmology Industry Research Report”

“Precision Nutritional Intervention for Eye Health” is a major opportunity that has emerged from this.

In recent years, national policies and regulations supporting the development of the broader health industry, such as the “Healthy China 2030” Planning Outline, have been successively introduced, emphasizing the implementation of prevention-first strategies, the promotion of healthy lifestyles, and the advancement of the food nutrition and health industry toward robust growth.

Relevant Policies on Food Nutrition (Partial)

The objective demand for functional foods is also becoming increasingly evident.

From a market perspective,The continuously rising elderly population has provided a stable market demand for functional foods. Meanwhile, as sub-health issues among modern people become increasingly prominent, coupled with ongoing economic development and the steadily improving health awareness of young consumers, the latent demand for health and wellness products is being progressively unleashed. Furthermore, factors such as the growth rate of medical insurance expenditures exceeding or roughly keeping pace with income growth, along with mounting pressure to control medical insurance costs, have drawn greater policy attention to the health-related industry. This may further shift the focus of healthcare from treatment-oriented to prevention-oriented models.

The industry has also established the foundation and conditions for development, ushering in a golden period of growth.On one hand, large-scale manufacturers, leveraging years of contract manufacturing experience, have developed robust capabilities in processing customer-supplied materials and product research and development. The maturity of the supply chain has shortened product time-to-market and lowered entry barriers for startups, thereby facilitating rapid product innovation and iteration for downstream brands. On the other hand, the fragmentation of online channels and media platforms has effectively reduced entry barriers for startups, accelerating the incubation and distribution of new products.

“Precision Nutritional Intervention for Eye Health,” as a key segment within both the functional food and ophthalmology sectors, leverages the advantages of both markets and represents a vast blue ocean of unmet demand. “The superior physician treats disease before it arises,” which is alsoShanghai Tongxin Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Tongxin Biotech”): Gao Fei’s focus on precision nutritional interventions for eye health was a key factor in the joint establishment of Tongxin Biotech with its partners.

Gao Fei is inherently an individual who enjoys exploring and challenging the unknown, and he is filled with boundless enthusiasm for entrepreneurship.Public records indicate that Gao Fei is a co-founder of Airdoc, where he previously oversaw investor relations, optometry services, and legal affairs.

Airdoc is the first publicly listed medical AI company, providing services for retinal screening, diagnosis, and health assessment based on artificial intelligence. During his tenure at Airdoc, Gao Fei observed that visual health issues were severe and continuing to deteriorate. Not only are eye conditions such as myopia, cataracts, and presbyopia highly prevalent worldwide, but the widespread adoption of digital devices with electronic screens in learning, work, and daily life has also led to a significant increase in the proportion of time spent on near-vision tasks. These trends directly conflict with efforts to protect eye health, and there are no signs of improvement in this worsening situation.

Consequently, Gao Fei identified nutritional intervention for the eyes as a strategic entry point to explore the high-value sector of visual health management. He joined forces with enterprises specializing in health food ingredients and biocatalysis technologies, experts in high-efficiency cultivation techniques for high-value-added plants in intelligent greenhouses, and industrialists to co-found Tongxin Biology. The company focuses on nutritional interventions and functional foods to explore strategies for the prevention and management of eye diseases.

Leveraging these advantages, Tongxin Biotech has established a comprehensive layout across the entire industry chain, encompassing raw material cultivation, product research and development (R&D), and commercial operations. Agricultural technology experts oversee the source-level breeding and cultivation of botanical raw materials; enterprises specializing in raw material extraction and biocatalysis technologies are responsible for ingredient extraction, R&D, as well as the development and manufacturing of end-user products; and the Gao Fei team leads commercialization efforts and corporate management.

Leveraging biocatalysis technology and its proprietary manufacturing processes, Tongxin Biotech has launched a range of products targeting eye health. The company’s flagship product, TongxinGoji Berry Lutein Ester, it is one of the few lutein liquid beverages in the domestic market.

Tongxin Lutein Esters from Goji Berry Leaves

It is reported that,This product contains ingredients such as lutein esters and Lycium barbarum (goji berries). Prior to market launch, the product passed third-party testing, which verified its composition and safety.Tongxin Biotech employs low-temperature cell-wall disruption and pressing to extract liquid molecules, thereby enhancing the activity of small molecules in its products and facilitating their absorption by the human body. This approach improves the bioavailability and stability of lutein and wolfberry (goji berry), while the palatable texture of these snack foods enhances user experience and convenience.

Lutein EstersAfter absorption by the human body, it is broken down into free lutein. Lutein can increase the macular pigment optical density in the macular region of the human retina, protect the macula, and promote macular development. In addition, lutein has blue light-filtering and antioxidant effects, which can delay eye aging and pathological changes, while preventing cardiovascular sclerosis, coronary heart disease, and tumors caused by systemic aging.

Lycium barbarum fruitIt may alleviate ocular surface inflammatory responses and improve the symptoms of dry eye disease by modulating gene expression and regulating signaling pathways. The efficacy of Lycium barbarum in treating dry eye disease has been validated in the article “Network Pharmacology Study on the Therapeutic Targets and Related Mechanisms of Lycium barbarum in the Treatment of Dry Eye Disease.”

In addition to its flagship series of high-quality lutein plant-based beverages, candies, and other products,Tongxin Biologics has built a robust pipeline of investigational products and strategic plans in areas such as optic nerve protection and retinal vasculature., laying the foundation for further in-depth development.

Following the successful market launch and validation of its products, Tongxin Bio has pioneered a multi-channel, multi-scenario, three-dimensional new retail model to drive the large-scale commercialization of its offerings.

In addition to conventional online and offline sales channels, Tongxin Biotechnology distinguishes itself in marketing by targeting the broad workforce population. Given that most jobs today involve close-up, desk-based work, Tongxin Biotechnology seeks to establish corporate partnerships to provide eye-care benefits for employees, thereby fostering habits of eye care during work hours. Furthermore, Tongxin Biotechnology aims to use functional snacks containing lutein as an entry point, collaborating with numerous upstream and downstream partners to deliver a comprehensive suite of visual health management services tailored to professionals. This includes personalized visual health management and wellness consultation advice for each user, thus completing the user service loop.

Relevant data indicate that functional foods have been popular in overseas markets for many years. In European and American countries, consumers spend an average of 25% of their total expenditure on functional foods. Moreover, over 2,000 types of functional foods have been developed in Europe, with sales growing at an annual rate of 17%. Although China’s functional food industry is still in its early stages due to a late start in research, it is now demonstrating broad development prospects, driven by advancing research from academic and scientific institutions and the influx of startups into the market.

Chen Wei, President of Jiangnan University and an Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, pointed out that in 2020, the annual output value of China’s functional food consumer market exceeded RMB 270 billion, with an industry growth rate of over 15% from 2018 to 2020.

In recent years, the domestic functional food market has demonstrated rapid growth. Tongxin Bio has assembled a founding team with extensive expertise and built a comprehensive talent matrix. It is one of the few startups in China that has strategically laid out its entire industry chain from inception, covering upstream raw material cultivation, midstream product research and development, and downstream commercial operations.

In the future, Tongxin Biotech will continue to focus on the field of visual health, building a comprehensive service system that spans from examination and assessment to nutritional intervention and ongoing health management.

We believe that, through the joint efforts of companies such as Tongxin Biotech and domestic researchers, threats to human visual health can be effectively mitigated and improved—a shared aspiration of society as a whole.

References:

1. Functional Foods’ Annual Output Value Exceeds RMB 270 Billion! Bioactive Substances Hold Great Promise

2. A Comparative Study of Functional Foods and Health Foods in China

3. Research on the Health Food Industry