BEYOND 2023 Life Sciences Summit: How AI Drug Discovery, Anti-Aging Technologies, and Brain-Computer Interfaces Are Redefining the Future of Tech

On May 12, the 3rd BEYOND International Science and Technology Innovation Expo (BEYOND Expo 2023) concluded at The Venetian Macao’s Cotai Expo Center. Themed “Technology Redefined,” the three-day event focused on technological showcases and discussions in three key areas: sustainable development, life sciences, and consumer technology. It also hosted multiple international investment and financing summits as well as startup pitch sessions, providing a platform for emerging companies in the industry to showcase their innovations.

At the BEYOND Expo 2023 Life Sciences Summit, several biotech innovators, including XtalPi, iCarbonX, and NeuroXess, shared their insights. Below is a curated recap of the summit’s highlights by VCBeat.

Hu Dalong, Senior Vice President of XtalPi, introduced how intelligence and automation are driving innovation in drug R&D. XtalPi has established a “triune” model for innovative drug discovery, which integrates rapid, large-scale molecule generation through intelligent computing, manual expert evaluation of molecules, and automated laboratory operations.

XtalPi implements the DMTA cycle—Design, Make, Test, and Analysis—in drug R&D. While AI technologies enhance efficiency and throughput in the Design phase, traditional experimental methods constrain those same metrics in the Make phase. To streamline this cycle in drug discovery and improve cost-effectiveness and efficiency, XtalPi leverages laboratory automation systems and intelligent automation technologies to boost the efficiency and throughput of conventional drug experimentation.

He introduced that XtalPi has undergone three stages of development: from 2015 to 2018, the company focused on the development of its computing platform; in 2018, it established a real-time laboratory, entering a period driven by the dual engines of “computation” and “experimentation”; starting in 2019, the company initiated projects and launched its laboratory automation system in 2020, ushering in a new era of intelligent and automation-driven innovation in drug R&D. As an asset-intensive company, XtalPi employs over 1,000 staff members, including more than 700 R&D personnel, and has participated in over 200 new drug development projects. The company’s small-molecule drug discovery system is a novel-paradigm drug discovery platform that integrates three core elements: XtalPi’s intelligent computation, expert expertise, and automated experimentation. The intelligent computation component comprises two sub-platforms: the AI drug discovery platform ID4Idea and the high-precision computational chemistry platform ID4Gibbs.

Li Yingrui, Co-founder and Chief Scientist of iCarbonX, believes that anti-aging technology can help people age healthily. The first key technology in addressing aging is the quantification of human health, which requires a method to capture all possible data from the human body and describe it quantitatively. Secondly, models are needed to integrate different types of data to create what is known as a "digital twin" of the human body, enabling individuals to understand their position in their own life journey. Finally, various technologies must be employed to identify issues through data analysis and provide solutions.

iCarbonX is integrating healthcare services with other types of business operations. In Shenzhen, the company installs comprehensive healthcare monitoring systems and equipment within residential buildings, with each apartment equipped with a terminal to measure residents’ lifestyle patterns and related health metrics. The company also aims to collect health data from all residents through community healthcare centers to enable proactive medical care, empowering physicians and community health services to engage more actively with residents and help them maintain optimal health for as long as possible.

Li Yingrui believes that it is crucial for people to recognize the importance of adhering to health guidelines in some manner and maintaining a state of well-being for as long as possible. The key to anti-aging lies in the desire to live a life that transcends fate, rather than passively waiting for the destiny of becoming a patient after abnormal physiological indicators appear. iCarbonX hopes to demonstrate in ten years that a community-based new healthcare model will become synonymous with human health. If timely interventions had been implemented for certain chronic diseases ten years ago, it would have been possible to delay their onset by five to ten years and make them fully affordable for patients.

Peng Lei, Co-founder and CEO of NeuroXess, stated that brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) establish a channel between AI and the human brain by studying neuronal firing patterns and decoding neural signals associated with thought. Achieving this goal is a long-term process requiring collaborative exploration. China’s Brain Project, launched in 2021 with an investment of RMB 50 billion, aims to unravel the mysteries of brain function within ten years.

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are the core tools of the Brain Project, encompassing fields such as semiconductors, chips, materials, algorithms, robotics, medicine, ethics, neuroscience, and psychology. NeuroXess’s products aim to maximize brain utilization while minimizing damage to brain tissue. Currently, the commercial application of BCI technology requires overcoming three major technical challenges: high-throughput neuronal reading and writing, minimally invasive procedures, and long-term stable carriers.

Currently, there are three main technological approaches to brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) on the market. NeuroXess has adopted a flexible BCI technology roadmap and formulated three five-year plans. In the first five years, NeuroXess will develop medical device products for patients with terminal and critical illnesses. In the second five years, it will explore the value of BCIs for the general population. In the third five years, NeuroXess aims to achieve digital twin status, realizing immortality in the digital space.

Shanghai Changjin Biotechnology Co., Ltd. has launched the Kluyveromyces protein and innovative alternative dairy professional application series. Based on microbially derived proteins created through biotechnology and biosynthesized milk proteins, this product series efficiently utilizes limited Earth resources to unlock unlimited nutritional potential. Rooted in nature—with strains sourced from the pristine Shangri-La region—and transcending natural limitations, it leverages advanced technologies such as mutagenesis-driven evolution and gene editing to create future foods derived from natural origins.

BEYOND Expo 2023 established a nearly 100,000-square-meter exhibition area at The Venetian Macao’s Cotai Expo Hall, hosting over 600 exhibitors, including Fortune Global 500 companies, large multinational corporations, unicorn innovators, and emerging startups. Its three major zones—Consumer Technology, Sustainable Development, and Life Sciences—all attracted leading industry players to exhibit.

In the Sustainable Development Exhibition Zone, exhibitors included giants from traditional sectors such as China State Construction International Holdings Limited, China Civil Engineering (Macau) Co., Ltd., Fujifilm (China) Investment Co., Ltd., and Inspur Technologies. Also present were emerging companies focused on agriculture and plant-based meat, including Changjin Biology, Break Agricultural Big Data Technology Group, and Momi Biology.

Exhibitors in the Life Sciences Pavilion include China Taiping Insurance Group, the longest continuously operating national insurance brand in Chinese history, United Family Healthcare, Fosun Pharma, and Guangzhou Taihe Medical Technology Innovation Center.

In the Consumer Technology Exhibition Area, exhibitors included leading enterprises such as Huawei, Alibaba Cloud, SenseTime, and Lenovo. Also present were Kuwa Technology, which specializes in L4-level autonomous commercial vehicles, and Mushroom Mobility, which focuses on operating large-scale urban public service fleets of L4-level autonomous buses, taxis, street sweepers, patrol vehicles, ambulances, and logistics vehicles. Additionally, XPeng Aeroht and EHang, both specializing in aerial mobility, were featured.

*All exhibitors are listed in no particular order.

BEYOND Expo is held at The Venetian Macao’s Cotai Expo. Opened in 2007, Cotai Expo has become a premier convention and exhibition venue in Macao, China. Covering an area of approximately 75,000 square meters, it ranks among the largest exhibition spaces in Asia, featuring two levels with six independent exhibition halls capable of accommodating up to 5,000 exhibitors simultaneously. Cotai Expo offers flexible and diverse meeting space options, an international team of professional event planners, and comprehensive one-stop facility services.