Appliance Veteran Crosses Over: GeneIII Jinsan Achieves Ergothioneine Scale-Up Within Two Years, Files IPO Prospectus

Ding Wei, Founder and Chairman of GeneIII Bio-Tec, holds dual master’s degrees in Materials Engineering from the University of Science and Technology Beijing and the University of Nevada, USA. Prior to founding GeneIII Bio-Tec, he served successively as Senior Vice President and President of China Region at A.O. Smith Corporation, and as CEO of HEGII Group. He holds more than 20 original patented technologies.

After more than two decades of navigating the home appliance industry and later serving as CEO of Hegii Sanitary Ware, Ding Wei, now in his sixties, remains full of vigor. Nevertheless, during an interview with Ding Wei, founder of GeneIII Bio-Tec, one cannot help but wonder why his eventual entrepreneurial venture pivoted toward the big health and skincare sectors based on synthetic biology.

Ding Wei, Co-founder and Chairman of GeneIII Bio-Tec

“Many things are not the result of planning, but rather come about when the right conditions align,” said Ding Wei. His interest in the broader health and skincare sectors can be traced back 20 years, to when he was still working in the home appliance industry. At that time, Mr. Ding noticed that a South Korean company had repurposed water softeners into beauty devices for marketing purposes, which provided him with significant inspiration.

After joining Hegii, Ding Wei planned to develop a beauty showerhead capable of directly spraying small-molecule beauty water. Through this project, he met Wang Yang, who holds a Ph.D. in Pharmacy from Oregon State University in the United States, completed his postdoctoral research in biomedical engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), and serves as a master’s thesis supervisor.——He holds multiple patented technologies in the field of synthetic biology and can utilize gene editing techniques to produce ingredients for beauty and skincare products. Subsequently, Ding Wei and Wang Yang co-founded GeneIII Bio-Tec Co., Ltd., a synthetic biology company dedicated to the research, development, and production of bioactive ingredients, functional skincare products, and raw materials and products for health and wellness dietary supplements.

Upon entering the field of synthetic biology, the first substance to catch Ding Wei’s attention was ergothioneine, a natural antioxidant. In the skincare industry, ergothioneine is regarded as a “star” ingredient due to its exceptional antioxidant efficacy. It achieves this by binding specifically to the exclusive transporter protein OCTN-1, thereby penetrating deep into cellular mitochondria and directly scavenging free radicals. Notably, it is currently the only antioxidant known to directly cross the cell membrane and enter the mitochondria.

As a “star” ingredient, ergothioneine has long commanded high prices due to limitations in production processes and technology. It is reported that around 2017, the market price of ergothioneine exceeded $30 million per kilogram. “At that time, it could only be extracted from rare fungi and was available solely through imports,” said Ding Wei. By 2021, as market attention on ergothioneine grew and bio-extraction technologies advanced, the market price dropped to $300,000 per kilogram. “Although this represented a significant decrease, it remained extremely expensive, approaching the price of gold,” Ding Wei shared.

“Precisely because the price of ergothioneine remains high, not every brand can afford it; even those that can are reluctant to use it in significant amounts. As a result, most skincare products contain only around 10 ppm—a merely symbolic addition. Discussing efficacy without considering concentration is disingenuous. Such low levels merely make the ingredient list look impressive, while the antioxidant potential of ergothioneine is far from fully realized,” he said.

It is precisely for this reason that GeneIII Bio-Tec, upon its establishment, designated ergothioneine as its first core raw material, committing to the mass production of ergothioneine via biosynthesis. “This will drive down both costs and prices, enabling skincare products to incorporate higher concentrations of ergothioneine,” said Ding Wei.

Such confidence and assurance stem precisely from the robust R&D team behind GeneIII Bio-Tec. Dr. Wang Yang, Co-founder and Chief Scientist of GeneIII Bio-Tec, holds a Ph.D. in Pharmacy from Oregon State University in the United States and completed his postdoctoral training in biomedical engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). He is also recognized as a “Zijin Star” under Nanjing University of Science and Technology’s Excellence Program and as an Innovation and Entrepreneurship Talent. In the field of synthetic biology, Dr. Wang mastered gene-editing technologies as early as ten years ago.

“If we view bacteria as a computer, gene editing technology involves the design and modification of DNA programs. We can extract genes from rare mushrooms such as Ganoderma lucidum and Matsutake to produce valuable compounds like ergothioneine,” explained Dr. Wang Yang.

At GeneIII Bio-Tec, Dr. Wang Yang leads the R&D team in the independent development and mass production of ergothioneine. Compared with traditional biological extraction techniques, ergothioneine produced via synthetic biology offers high purity, absence of impurities, lower costs, and a safe, environmentally friendly manufacturing process, thereby achieving true high-purity mass production.According to reports, the latest test results show that the purity of ergothioneine from GeneIII Bio-Tec reaches 99.9%.

Ergothioneine Raw Material – Image Provided by GeneIII Bio-Tec

As a leading domestic synthetic biology company, GeneIII Bio-Tec not only possesses robust gene-editing capabilities but has also achieved breakthrough progress in the engineered mass production of ergothioneine.

“Leveraging its GMP-compliant pharmaceutical production platform, GeneIII Bio-Tec’s ergothioneine raw material achieves food and pharmaceutical-grade purity, with mastered fermentation processes and purification capabilities for 20-ton fermenters,” said Ding Wei.

Currently, GeneIII Bio-Tec has established a “closed-loop” system encompassing multiple stages, from upstream strain construction, bio-fermentation, separation and purification, and engineered mass production to product efficacy evaluation and market promotion, earning it the reputation as the “leading manufacturer of ergothioneine.” Backed by its robust R&D and production capabilities, GeneIII Bio-Tec’s ergothioneine series has achieved strong market reception. The company has fully incorporated its self-developed ergothioneine in sufficient quantities into its skincare brand Bomaiyan and oral ergothioneine capsules, truly realizing the concept of “cosmetics and food sharing the same source.”

Data from independent third-party professional laboratories show that Bomaiyan Essence, rich in over 1,000 ppm of ergothioneine, demonstrates robust performance in free radical scavenging rate.

Bomaiyan Essence. Image provided by GeneIII Bio-Tec

In 2023, GeneIII Bio-Tec officially launched its self-developed oral ergothioneine capsules. As an oral dietary supplement, these ergothioneine capsules have achieved breakthrough advancements in safety, potency, and quality. Each capsule contains 25 mg of ergothioneine derived from GeneIII Bio-Tec’s proprietary raw materials. Taking one capsule each in the morning and evening provides an amount of ergothioneine equivalent to that found in 500 grams of fresh Ganoderma lucidum (Reishi mushroom). The capsules have demonstrated remarkable efficacy in improving sleep, delaying aging, and enhancing vitality and complexion, earning widespread acclaim from consumers.

In Ding Wei’s view, the key reason GeneIII Bio-Tec Co., Ltd. was able to independently develop and achieve engineered mass production of ergothioneine within less than two years of its establishment lies in its dual focus: “building a strong talent team on one hand, and driving product innovation on the other.”

“Venturing into an entirely new field presents numerous challenges to overcome, yet the fundamentals of business operations remain universally applicable. In the early stages of entrepreneurship, we need to precisely position the company, identify target population needs, and then fulfill those needs. Innovation poses a challenge to any company, and fostering innovation is inseparable from building a strong talent team,” said Ding Wei. It is reported that GeneIII Bio-Tec’s R&D team currently comprises over 60 members, with 60% holding master’s or doctoral degrees, including three PhDs in biology represented by Dr. Wang Yang.

To align raw material R&D more closely with market demands, GeneIII Bio-Tec regularly invites representatives from diverse fields—including beauty influencers, formulators, and medical aesthetics ingredient suppliers—to participate in its innovation and research salons.Extracting Innovative R&D Topics from Real Customer Needs and Consumer Pain Points“We hope that our R&D team and platform will not operate in isolation, but rather be driven by market demand to deliver genuine innovations that address industry challenges and user pain points,” said Ding Wei.

Looking at the overall market, ergothioneine holds vast prospects. As one of the earliest companies in China to leverage synthetic biology and hold patented technologies in ergothioneine R&D, GeneIII Bio-Tec Co., Ltd. has completed the full-chain development of ergothioneine. Driven by the trend of synthetic biology, ergothioneine is expected to find broader applications in beauty and skincare, oral health supplements, and medical healthcare.