Post-Pandemic Uncertainty and Strategic Outlook in Life Science Tools for Biopharmaceuticals

According to Frost & Sullivan’s estimates, China’s biopharmaceutical market accounted for approximately 20% of the global share in 2020. Assuming the upstream related industries represent a similar proportion, their market size would be approximately RMB 24 billion, with a growth rate exceeding 15%. The projected future growth rate is expected to range from 15% to 20%, significantly surpassing the global average. Furthermore, as numerous innovative drugs and emerging therapies enter the industrialization phase, they are driving a scattered and diversified surge in demand for upstream biopharmaceutical tools.

Empowered by Both Opportunities and Mission: The Company’s Short-, Medium-, and Long-Term Foundational Business Reflections in the Post-Pandemic Era Are Worth Anticipating.

VCBeat and VBIO, in partnership with Legend Capital, have invited representative companies from the niche sector of life science tools for biologics—NanoMicro Tech, Hanbon Tech, and BeiAnJi—to jointly observe the present landscape and deliberate on the future:
Observing the Present: How Is the New Wave of Epidemics Driving Upstream Industries? What New Demands Are Emerging Therapies Placing on Upstream Tools?

Contemplating the Future: How Can Domestic Enterprises Achieve Strategic Fill-in and Breakthroughs Amidst Changing Dynamics? What Are the Systemic Opportunities for China Biopharmaceutical at the Threshold of Large-Scale Industrialization?

Jiang Biwang | Chairman of NanoMicro Tech

Holding a Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Binghamton and having completed postdoctoral research at the University of California, Berkeley, he is a world-leading expert in the synthesis of nano- and micro-spheres. His research achievements have been successfully applied in key fields such as biopharmaceuticals, flat-panel displays, disease diagnostics, water treatment, and enzyme catalysis. He has filed over 50 invention patents and published 24 academic papers. Upon returning to China, he founded the Center for Nano- and Micro-Materials Research at the Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, where he served as Professor and Director. The center has since been designated as a Shenzhen Key Laboratory and a Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Nano- and Micro-Materials.

Founded Nano-Micro Technology in 2007, was introduced to Suzhou Industrial Park as a leading scientific and technological talent, and was successively recognized as an Innovative and Entrepreneurial Talent by the Ministry of Science and Technology, an Innovative and Entrepreneurial Talent of Jiangsu Province, a Gusu Leading Talent, and an Innovative Talent Award Winner of the “Chinese Overseas Chinese Contribution Award.” He has been honored with awards including the Jiangsu Province May 1st Labor Medal, the Third Prize of Jiangsu Provincial Science and Technology Awards, and the Second Prize of Suzhou Municipal Scientific and Technological Achievements Awards.

Li Shengying | Executive General Manager, Hanbang Technology

Ph.D. from Zhejiang University, joined Jiangsu Hanbon Technology Co., Ltd. in 2010 as Executive General Manager. He has led and participated in the development of multiple national and provincial-level science and technology projects. Primarily responsible for the company’s overall sales operations, he has remained at the forefront of the market, possessing a profound understanding of the demand for downstream purification equipment in biopharmaceutical enterprises and the current state of its domestic production in China.

Liu Xuping | President, Bei Anji

He has led over a dozen projects under the National 863 Program, Major Science and Technology Special Projects, and industry-sponsored collaborative initiatives. His primary research interests focus on key scientific and engineering challenges, including the design and development of serum-free and protein-free culture media, high-density cell culture, regulation of material and energy metabolism during cell expansion processes, as well as bioreactor scale-up and process optimization. He is committed to establishing and optimizing manufacturing processes for partners to enhance production efficiency. With extensive experience in project implementation for vaccine industrialization and cell culture process design, he has participated in the completion of more than ten biopharmaceutical projects that successfully obtained clinical trial approvals.

Wang Jianfei | Managing Director, Legend Capital

Bachelor of Engineering from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Master of Management from Tsinghua University. Joined Legend Capital in 2006, focusing on investments in professional services and digital healthcare. Previously worked at Tsinghua Lihua Venture Capital. Representative portfolio companies include Mingde Biology, XiHua Testing, Wuhan Asia Heart Hospital, and ZhiXiang Bio.

NanoMicro Tech is a national high-tech enterprise specializing in the research, production, and sales of high-precision, high-performance, and high-value-added nano- and microsphere materials. Possessing world-leading technologies for the preparation and application of nano- and microspheres, the company can precisely fabricate monodisperse nano- and microspheres of any size within a particle diameter range from 5 nanometers to 1,000 micrometers. NanoMicro Tech has filed more than 30 national invention patents, gained recognition from over one hundred pharmaceutical companies in China, and cumulatively exported tens of thousands of liters of high-performance chromatography media to large pharmaceutical enterprises in Europe, the United States, and South Korea, thereby reversing China’s previous passive reliance on imports of chromatography media. The company has established several key platforms, including the Jiangsu Province Engineering Center for Nano- and Microsphere Materials, the Suzhou City Engineering Technology Research Center for Nano- and Microsphere Materials, the Suzhou City Enterprise Technology Center, and the Postdoctoral Innovation Practice Base in Suzhou Industrial Park.

Since its inception, Hanbang Technology has remained true to its original mission, providing biopharmaceutical users with drug purification equipment and services centered on chromatography technology. The company currently employs over 550 people, including 7 PhDs and more than 40 master’s degree holders. It occupies an area of over 200 mu, with production workshops covering more than 60,000 square meters. After launching its biopharmaceutical chromatography systems in 2016, Hanbang has continuously refined its product portfolio. It now offers a comprehensive range of solutions, including laboratory-to-industrial-scale chromatography systems, chromatography columns, ultrafiltration systems, online dilution and buffer preparation systems, as well as turnkey projects for downstream purification. Its products are widely used in the production of biologics such as antibodies, vaccines, and proteins both domestically and internationally. Meanwhile, the company is continually developing new products to address unmet market needs, providing R&D and manufacturing equipment for nucleic acid synthesis, purification, and delivery for emerging therapies such as nucleic acid drugs, mRNA vaccines, and cell therapies.

Founded in 2014 by Professor Tan Wensong of East China University of Science and Technology, Beianji Biotechnology specializes in technical services for large-scale, high-density, serum-free suspension culture of animal cells, as well as the development and manufacturing of raw materials. The company provides biopharmaceutical enterprises with high-quality, one-stop services ranging from cell culture process development and optimization, and medium formulation design, to medium processing and manufacturing. Headquartered in Shanghai and serving clients across China and globally, Beianji provides core key technology support, services, and guarantees for critical raw materials and equipment to facilitate the research, development, and industrialization of biopharmaceutical products, including antibody drugs, recombinant proteins, human and livestock viral vaccines, and stem cell/cell therapies.

Legend Capital is an independent professional investment firm under Legend Holdings. Established in April 2001, it was renamed from Legend Investment to Legend Capital in 2012. Its core business focuses on venture capital for start-ups and growth equity for expanding companies. The total assets under management in its USD and RMB funds exceed RMB 50 billion, with a strategic emphasis on innovation and growth opportunities in China. As of 2020, Legend Capital had invested in more than 500 portfolio companies, among which nearly 80 have successfully listed or been quoted on domestic or overseas stock exchanges, and over 60 have exited through mergers and acquisitions.

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VB Thinkers’ Club is one of VCBeat’s flagship events, serving as a face-to-face platform centered on exploring solutions in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors, with the mission to “focus on practical challenges and discuss industry trends.” The event conducts in-depth discussions, analyses, and exchanges around the current development status of core themes, addressing encountered difficulties, pain points, and barriers. Meanwhile, it delves into the resource endowments of participating enterprises, fostering tangible collaborations through intellectual exchange. “Each session features one theme, one vehicle, and one ecosystem.”