Wanheyuan Biotech Files IPO Prospectus: Building Personalized 'Drug Testing Avatars' with Organoid-Based Precision Medicine Platform

“Helping every cancer patient receive the right medication at the earliest possible stage. This was our original intention in founding the company, and it remains our greatest vision.”

In our interview with Mr. Sun Chu, co-founder of Wanheyuan, we clearly sensed that this is a biotechnology company driven by strong conviction and an entrepreneurial spirit, characterized by cutting-edge technology, forward-looking strategic layout, and a clear sense of purpose. This is also reflected in the company’s development: since officially launching its commercialization process at the end of last year, Wanheyuan has rapidly secured collaborations with nearly 100 clients, ranging from top-tier hospitals to renowned pharmaceutical companies, and offering everything from standardized products to personalized services, earning widespread acclaim within the industry.

Wanheyuan Biotechnology, established in 2020, is a platform-based enterprise specializing in organoid technology R&D. Focused on precision prevention and treatment of tumors, the company provides personalized drug sensitivity testing platforms, efficient translational research platforms, and next-generation automated high-throughput drug screening platforms that integrate in vitro and in vivo models, through organoid services and product innovation.

Leading technical expertise, precise strategic positioning, and strong execution capabilities are the distinguishing strengths of Wanheyuan. Mr. Sun Chu, Co-founder of the company, has long been deeply engaged in the field of oncology. His journey spans from studying basic tumor biology at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, to applying clinical oncology knowledge while working in hospitals, and finally to practicing the development and marketing of innovative diagnostic products in the industry. “Our founding team has always adhered to medical value as the core. Leveraging our advantages in basic research, clinical translation, and commercial operations, we seized the historical opportunity presented by the rapid development of organoid technology and the swift rise of China’s biopharmaceutical industry. We established Wanheyuan Biotech in Zhangjiang, Shanghai, to promote the industrial application of this cutting-edge platform technology in biology within China,” said Mr. Sun Chu, still full of passion when recalling the original intention behind starting the business.

Organoids are three-dimensional (3D) cell cultures that possess organ-specific cell types, self-organize into tissue-like structures, and exhibit partially restricted cell lineages. They can simulate organ functions in vitro and accurately predict drug sensitivity, holding significant promise for personalized medicine and new drug development. In 2017, organoids were named “Method of the Year” by *Nature Methods*.

“Organoids have a wide range of applications, with drug efficacy evaluation being the most promising in terms of development potential and technological maturity,” founder Sun Chu told VCBeat. Drug efficacy evaluation is primarily divided into three major markets: the patient side, the pharmaceutical company side, and the research side.

Clinical value always takes precedence; the worth of all technologies must ultimately be measured by patient benefits, and organoids are no exception.

Patient-Side Application: Assisting Patients in Selecting the Optimal Medication Regimen Through Organoid TestingFollowing standard clinical procedures for obtaining patient tumor tissue, an organoid model—the patient’s functional “avatar”—is constructed in vitro according to standardized operating procedures. Within two weeks, drug sensitivity testing for chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy is efficiently completed to identify the most effective treatment regimen.

“Cancer is a highly complex disease; even among patients with the same type of tumor, therapeutic responses can vary significantly. Traditional sequencing technologies have achieved the goal of ‘selecting effective drugs for broad patient categories,’ yet they remain inadequate for addressing the ultimate objective of ‘identifying the most effective drug for each individual patient’—a capability that has become the most urgent need in clinical pharmacotherapy.” Added founder Sun Chu, “We have addressed this challenge using organoid technology. Organoid models constructed in vitro can well preserve the key characteristics of tumors in vivo, thereby serving as precise ‘drug-testing surrogates’ for patients. These models enable pre-treatment testing of all potential therapeutic regimens, ultimately achieving truly personalized precision medicine.”

For pharmaceutical companies, Wanheyuan offers a dual-model solution integrating in vivo and in vitro approaches. By leveraging core Patient-Derived Organoid (PDO) technology and innovative Patient-Derived Orthotopic Xenograft (PDX) animal models, Wanheyuan helps pharmaceutical enterprises significantly improve the success rate of new drug development while shortening the R&D cycle. It is well known that new drug development is characterized by “three highs and one long”: high investment, high returns, high risk, and a long cycle. A key reason for this is that traditional preclinical models fail to accurately reflect the actual efficacy of drugs in patients once they enter clinical stages. Wanheyuan’s innovative PDO and PDX models effectively address the pain points of preclinical drug screening. The company has already established project collaborations with multiple renowned pharmaceutical firms, enabling them to complete preclinical studies more efficiently and effectively. This allows these companies to gain a competitive edge in their pipeline development and bring the most effective therapies to clinical trials sooner, thereby benefiting patients.

Furthermore, there is significant potential in scientific research operations. Wanheyuan has partnered with multiple leading domestic research institutions to establish an organoid-based translational medicine research platform, facilitating the sustainable and scalable output of scientific achievements.

Currently, Wanheyuan has achieved rapid market penetration across all three segments, securing a position in the industry’s first tier and emerging as a benchmark enterprise in the organoid sector.

As a novel drug sensitivity testing platform, organoids offer significant advantages over traditional technologies:

I.High Accuracy. The high concordance between organoid drug sensitivity testing results and clinical drug efficacy in patients underscores their significant value in personalized drug screening and new drug development;

II.High Flux. Based on organoid models, high-throughput screening of dozens to hundreds of compounds can be achieved;

III.Short Cycle. The construction time for Wanheyuan’s in vitro organoid model (PDO) can be shortened to one week, and the construction time for the novel in vivo animal model (PDOX) can be reduced to one month, significantly lowering costs and time compared to traditional PDX models;

IV.High Success Rate. Wan Heyuan has increased the success rate of organoid model construction to over 90%, far exceeding the industry average;

Wan Heyuan’s ability to achieve such remarkable results stems from mastering three core technologies: First, leveraging a profound understanding of tumor origin and development, the company constructed an optimal organoid culture system grounded in fundamental biological principles. Second, based on deep insights into clinical medication practices, it established an optimal drug efficacy evaluation framework rooted in core medical logic. Third, with a thorough grasp of industrial applications and a customer-centric approach, it pioneered an effective standardized quality control system. Ultimately, this enabled the delivery of high-standard outcomes to clients.

In his closing remarks, founder Mr. Sun Chu stated, “The company remains steadfastly committed to a customer-centric approach and to leveraging cutting-edge organoid technology as its core competency. We are dedicated to building an ‘Organoid+’ precision medicine platform that provides tumor patients with accurate and accessible personalized drug sensitivity testing products, offers pharmaceutical companies a highly competitive integrated drug screening platform combining in vitro and in vivo models, and supplies universities and research institutions with a transformative translational medicine research platform brimming with potential.”

The future is already here—it’s just not yet mainstream. We believe that Wanheyuan’s breakthrough organoid technology platform will undoubtedly accelerate and lead China’s biopharmaceutical industry into a new era of comprehensive takeoff.