Saiqiao Bio: A Tsinghua-Founded Pioneer Driving Domestic Innovation in CGT Upstream Equipment

Which university in China is known for producing “business prodigies”? ThatTsinghuaIt is bound to make the list.

According to statistics, currently8%The CEO of the listed company is a Tsinghua University alumnus, confirming Tsinghua's“CEO Incubator”title. AsTsinghua-affiliated Early-Stage Fund，Shuimu Venture CapitalIncubated and invested in numerous outstanding Tsinghua-affiliated enterprises,Saiqiao Biois one of them.

2009,Shang YuanfangatDepartment of Precision Instruments, Tsinghua UniversityPursuing a doctoral degree. The entrepreneurial spirit within the Department of Precision Instruments is particularly prominent, with the number of CEOs emerging from this major ranking highest among all disciplines at Tsinghua University. Influenced by Tsinghua’s strong entrepreneurial culture, he too became eager to venture into entrepreneurship. During his studies, he collaborated with senior and junior lab mates on several startup attempts, achieving modest successes—experiences that served as his initial introduction to entrepreneurship.

After graduation, his desire to start a business grew stronger, and he was determined to achieve something significant. In an era when the term “CGT” (cell and gene therapy) had not yet emerged, he proactively set his sights onGene TherapyDirection, he believes: Cells are the foundation of life and will inevitably serve as the cornerstone for the future development of medicine.

Although the idea of “entrepreneurship” was planted during Dr. Fang’s student days at business school, he did not immediately jump into the entrepreneurial arena after graduation; instead, he joined a military high-end equipment company as an employee.

According to Dr. Shang Yanfang, this entrepreneurial venture differs from the “minor endeavors” undertaken during her student years; one must have ample experience before taking action. During her decade at university, she accumulated primarily technical expertise, whileIn addition to a solid technical foundation, entrepreneurship also requires experience in marketing and business operations.. Therefore, he intends to first spend a few years gaining experience in the field of high-end military equipment, accumulating sufficient “experience points” before making his move.

While the field of military equipment may seem to have “nothing whatsoever” to do with Dr. Shang Fang’s planned venture in the CGT sector, it is in fact a decision made after careful deliberation.

The most prominent feature of the high-end military equipment sector is its access to cutting-edge technologies and their subsequent translation into practical applications. Consequently, this sector has developed its own methodology for developing new technology-based products—precisely what Dr. Shang Yuanfang needs most to enter the field of emerging technologies.

After five years of experience in the field of high-end military equipment, Dr. Shang Yuanfang has accumulated extensive expertise in rapid technology transfer and quality management. He immediately reached out to his junior colleague, with whom he had been collaborating since their student days.Dr. Xiaoliang Guo, preparing to establish Saiqiao Biotech.

The first step in starting a business is, of course, choosing the right sector. But which sectors are more conducive to survival? Dr. Shang Yuanfang offers her answer:"Entrepreneurial ventures are best suited to sectors that address critical industry pain points and offer substantial market potential."

After multiple assessments, Dr. Shang Yuanfang concluded that cell and gene therapy (CGT) is the strategic field they had long been seeking. With societal progress and advancements in medicine, people’s pursuit of health, longevity, and high-quality life has become increasingly strong. CGT therapies offer disruptive treatment modalities for the curative management of cancer, monogenic inherited disorders, degenerative diseases, and organismal aging, providing a fundamental “health solution.”

Although they targeted the CGT sector, they did not “follow the crowd” into downstream pharmaceutical development; instead, they focused on the “less-traveled” field of CGT equipment. There are two primary reasons for this strategy.

First, Dr. Shang Yuanfang’s team has been specializing in the field of precision biological instruments for ten years,It is important to recognize that in such a highly specialized field with significant technical barriers, professionals with ten years of experience are exceedingly scarce. Therefore, for Dr. Shang Yuanfang, this constitutes his “trump card” as well as his mission.

Second, China’s foundational manufacturing equipment for cell and gene therapy (CGT) has long been monopolized by foreign importers.Posing a serious threat to China’s research and development as well as biosecurity. In recent years, due to increased difficulties in import and export caused by the pandemic, along with external factors such as trade wars and technological conflicts, there is an urgent need for solutions in China to prevent the lack of domestic production of CGT equipment from becoming a "chokepoint" issue that restricts the country's CGT research and development.

Thus, at the outset of his entrepreneurial journey, Dr. Shang Yuanfang boldly positioned Saiqiao Bio with the label of“Domestic Production”label. However, this move has also raised considerable skepticism among investors: “Currently, China has a complete void in the field of underlying equipment manufacturing for CGT. As a ‘rash newcomer,’ do you really think downstream companies will buy into your attempt to change this status quo?”

Dr. Shang Yuanfang, however, held a different view: “The subject of CGT research is cells, which is closely related to China’s biological information security. If this area were controlled by overseas companies, how could we talk about development? Furthermore, as long as we perform better than overseas companies, why would researchers go out of their way to purchase foreign products?”

Driven by this vision, Saiqiao Biology has firmly embarked on the path of localizing core upstream equipment for cell and gene therapy (CGT) in China.

After several years of preparation,Saibridge BioIt was born in an 80-square-meter laboratory in Shenzhen. The team has expanded from the initial “senior-junior fellow” duo of Dr. Shang Yuanfang and Dr. Guo Xiaoliang to more than a dozen members, forming a “2+n” team structure.

When building a team, Dr. Shang Yuanfang believes that the most important thing is that everyone mustWith the Same Vision. Because entrepreneurship is an arduous endeavor, it often requires sacrifices to achieve gains; therefore, a shared vision and consensus within the team are essential for seamless collaboration.

Furthermore, the team’s professional competencies and personalities should ideally be complementary. However, the complementarity referred to here is not one of complete segregation, but ratherThere is a certain degree of “backup” between them, yet each has its own focus., which can play a synergistic and mutually supportive role.

Through the team’s joint efforts, the first domestically developed solution for foundational CGT equipment was created in this 80-square-meter laboratory, providing Chinese CGT companies with horizontally integrated services spanning from cell and gene therapy to stem cell harvesting and cell storage.

In the days that followed, Saiqiao Bio underwent multiple rounds of product updates and iterations, gradually revealing the distinctive features of its products—Fully enclosed, automated, digitalized, and flexibleAmong these, the most distinctive feature of Saiqiao is its flexible service.

So-called flexibility refers to the ability of equipment to adapt to a variety of processing objects and complete production in batches, efficiently and accurately.

It is important to recognize that process details and requirements vary significantly in cell and gene therapy (CGT) research. Cell types differ across pipelines, and even within the same pipeline, process specifications vary at different development stages. Consequently, equipment requirements also differ. Saiqiao Bio’s equipment features flexibility, effectively eliminating limitations on product applicability.

Saiqiao Bio's flexibility is primarily reflected across four dimensions.First, software-level flexibility, reconfiguring the functionality of underlying hardware modules through graphical programming, and enabling the allocation of hardware resources on the software platform;Second is the flexibility at the consumables level., capable of rapidly customizing innovative consumables according to customer needs;Third, flexibility at the modular combination level, capable of rapidly and flexibly combining modular equipment according to customer needs to customize the optimal solution for their specific process workflows;4. Flexibility at the equipment level, enabling rapid development of equipment models for critical performance validation based on customer requirements, accelerating customer process development, and delivering commercially viable products with full-system validation within just six months.

This design not only expands the market for Saiqiao Biology but also reduces research costs for users.

In addition, to ensure efficiency, Saiqiao Bio has also developed a set ofBiological Models, enabling the identification of the optimal product solution in the shortest possible time. Initially, CytoBridge Bio designed a fluidic cell-based operational platform. Leveraging the extensive data accumulated through this platform, they developed a proprietary “formula.” Similar to a mathematical equation, users need only input their raw cells into this system to rapidly compute and obtain the optimal solution.

Some may ask: Can such an approach guarantee accuracy? Indeed, relying solely on an “AI + biological model”-driven framework still carries the risk of data bias. To address this, Saiqiao Bio has incorporated into its systemDigitalizationto “verify” the results derived from biological models.

Saiqiao Bio has developed multiple types of digital biosensors to monitor key parameters under various conditions. These biosensors not only verify the accuracy of each measurement but also continuously refine physical models based on accumulated data, thereby improving the accuracy of subsequent calculations.

Hot sectors, excellent products, and outstanding team advantages have all drawn significant attention from venture capital firms to this small 80-square-meter laboratory. AsVice President of Investment, Shuimu Ventures，Yan Yi"After engaging with Dr. Shang Fang, he became highly optimistic about Saiqiao Biologics. He recalled:"What impressed him most was Dr. Shang Yuanfang’s passion for and perseverance in the life sciences.

Yan Yi remarked, “In my discussions with Dr. Shang Fang, I could clearly sense Saiqiao Bio’s determination to localize upstream equipment for cell and gene therapy (CGT), as well as its strong confidence in outperforming existing products.” Meanwhile, numerous downstream companies have also informed Yan Yi that the foundational manufacturing equipment for CGT has long been monopolized by foreign firms, making domestic substitution an inevitable trend.

Commercialization Potential and Inelastic Market Demand, all confirming to Yan Yi that Saiqiao Bio’s future is bright. Therefore, Shuimu Ventures’ decision to invest in Saiqiao Bio was both an inevitable outcome of the facts and a necessary choice based on future development prospects.

Following investment from Shuimu Ventures, Saiqiao Biology completed three consecutive funding rounds totaling RMB 200 million within 15 months.Total funding raised: nearly RMB 300 million, including well-known venture capital firms such as Matrix Partners China, Source Code Capital, and Delian Capital.

Meanwhile, Saiqiao Biology was also invited to become the first synthetic biology company to settle in the Shenzhen Guangming Synthetic Biology Industrial Park. The laboratory from80m²Upgrade to 9,000 m²Dr. Shang Yuanfang was deeply moved, stating, “This represents not only an upgrade in facilities, but also an advancement in our research outcomes and a step forward in commercialization. In the future, CytoNest will continue to dedicate itself to the research and development of CGT equipment, striving to provide domestically produced CGT manufacturing solutions to more clients.”

On November 10, Cell Bridge Bio was invited to attend2022 Shanghai (Minhang) Biopharmaceutical Industry Innovation Summit & 2022 Universal Cell Therapy Development Forum. At that time, CytoNest will unveil its new product.

Dr. Shang Yuanfang revealed to VCBeat, “Our new product is aHigh-Precision Encapsulation Equipment for Cell-Based Products, enabling our customers to rapidly complete product aliquoting and distribution. Meanwhile, it also marks that Saiqiao Biology has completed the “last mile” of its CGT production line, establishing a comprehensive layout in solid tumor and universal cell therapy products.”

To fundamentally complete the full chain of automated cell preparation, CytoNexus has made significant efforts. As early as its establishment in 2020, the company set three“3-Year Plan”, enabling the product to evolve from functional to user-friendly and then to scalable.

Now that the first three-year plan has been successfully completed, they will continue to advance toward industrial automation, digitalization, and intelligence in equipment, striving to become the world’s most comprehensive provider of intelligent CGT manufacturing solutions.

Dr. Shang Yuanfang stated, “What we at Saiqiao Bio aim to doNot merely a replacement, but an upgrade and transcendence.We have currently filed over 100 fully independent patents, with the total expected to reach 160 by the end of this year, more than 50% of which are invention patents. This has rapidly established us as the most innovative enterprise globally in terms of the most comprehensive, numerous, and high-quality patent portfolio for related products. We are also the only supplier in China capable of providing downstream customers with a complete set of industrial-grade CGT core equipment, process software, and single-use consumables free from patent risks.

Moving forward, Saiqiao Bio will continue to adhere to a strategy oriented toward application scenarios, cost structures, and commercial manufacturing. By collaborating with industry clients, we aim to foster integration, co-creation, and shared success. We are committed to precisely defining and delivering key products and services across the entire lifecycle—from target discovery to commercial production—striving to work alongside industry peers to achieve domestic superiority at an early stage and leave a distinct Chinese mark in the field of cell and gene therapy (CGT).