LiYang Enterprise Files IPO Prospectus: Pioneering Laboratory Automation Rooted in Traditional Chinese Medicine

“I only do things that I find fun.”

I met Huang Kaiyang, the founder of NIKYANG ENTERPRISE LIMITED, via video call. As soon as the camera was turned on, Mr. Huang warmly greeted me in his Cantonese-accented Mandarin.

In subsequent communications, Huang Kaiyang himself proved to be as distinctive and guided by his own internal logic as his statement suggested.

“What I do is something most people are reluctant to get involved in, because it’s all about open-flow,” Huang Kaiyang said with a laugh.

From founding NIKYANG ENTERPRISE LIMITED in 1998, with a focus on scientific analysis solutions for traditional Chinese medicine, to launching the Smart-Lab intelligent laboratory, Huang Kaiyang has consistently pursued endeavors he finds both enjoyable and meaningful.

For Huang Kaiyang, bringing scientific experimental analysis solutions to the traditional Chinese medicine industry is both an enjoyable and meaningful endeavor.

Born into a family with a long heritage in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), Huang Kaiyang holds a unique affection and deep understanding for TCM. In his view, TCM is a treasure, yet one that has long been overshadowed and underappreciated. “I have always been pondering why TCM has not gained the same widespread acceptance as Western medicine,” said Huang Kaiyang.

To resolve this uncertainty, Huang Kaiyang returned to Hong Kong after completing his graduate studies in chemistry at Queen’s University in Canada. He joined a company with a century-long business relationship with China, where he was responsible for the analytical instrumentation business in the mainland Chinese market. “Whether it is Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) or Chinese herbal medicine, both have a profound history. One must return to China to gain more opportunities for deeper understanding and research.”

During his professional career, Huang Kaiyang had the privilege of meeting Professor Peishan Xie, then Deputy Director of the Guangzhou Institute for Drug Control, who was one of the founders and pioneers of Chinese materia medica fingerprinting in China.

“Although we are decades apart in age, we have become close friends across generations, engaging in stimulating conversations and generating many ideas, thanks to our shared resonance in advancing the automation and standardization of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) analysis and validating its scientific basis and intrinsic value.”

Thus, when the company intended to appoint him as the successor to the Manager of the Instrumentation Department, Huang Kaiyang tendered his resignation. “In someone else’s company, it is difficult for me to fully act according to my own wishes and move in the direction I desire, so I chose a different path.”

This path involves establishing NIKYANG ENTERPRISE LIMITED to validate the scientific basis of Traditional Chinese Medicine through scientifically rigorous experimental analysis solutions.

1998, NIKYANG ENTERPRISE LIMITED was officially established.

In 2001, NIKYANG ENTERPRISE LIMITED co-organized the International Conference on Chromatographic Fingerprinting.

In 2004, NIKYANG ENTERPRISE LIMITED became the exclusive technology and equipment supplier for the Chinese FDA’s “Rapid Drug Testing Vehicle” project, providing more than 360 sets of CAMAG thin-layer chromatography instruments.

In 2007, NIKYANG ENTERPRISE LIMITED became the sole designated consultant for automated thin-layer chromatography technology in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia.

In 2010, Nikyang Enterprise Limited became the sole supplier of thin-layer chromatography instruments for the centralized procurement project of laboratory equipment at the FDA-affiliated drug testing institutes in China’s central and western regions, and was responsible for providing technical training to more than 170 drug testing agencies at all levels in these regions.

On the path to promoting the modernization of traditional Chinese medicine, Huang Kaiyang has led his team to achieve one milestone after another.

But without weathering the storm, one cannot see the rainbow; without enduring the biting cold, one cannot savor the delicate fragrance of plum blossoms.

Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) is a modern chromatographic separation technique that uses a support material as the stationary phase and an appropriate solvent as the mobile phase to separate, identify, and quantify mixed samples. Precise qualitative analysis is achieved through image analysis techniques.

After establishing NIKYANG ENTERPRISE LIMITED, Huang Kaiyang identified a method for the scientific analysis of traditional Chinese medicine, facilitated by his exchanges with Professor Peishan Xie.Huang Kaiyang turned his focus to the international arena, with NIKYANG ENTERPRISE LIMITED leveraging thin-layer chromatography equipment and technology from CAMAG (Switzerland) to conduct experiments on the detection of traditional Chinese medicine components.

Huang Kaiyang remarked with emotion that everyone endured significant hardships during this process. First, given the environment at the time, few people recognized or pursued the standardization of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Even though NIKYANG ENTERPRISE LIMITED introduced modern analytical instruments into China, there were virtually no customers willing to purchase them due to their high prices.

Second, the inherent diversity and complexity of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) pose significant challenges to the research and development of instruments and equipment. “Even within the same plant species, there are variations among different parts of the plant, as well as in the final products harvested from different locations and at different times. It is extremely difficult to process these samples,” said Huang Kaiyang. ““I have an ideal, a burning passion to undertake such an endeavor.”

In 2009, the “Chinese Pharmacopoeia—Color Atlas of Thin-Layer Chromatography for Chinese Crude Drugs (compiled by the Chinese Pharmacopoeia Commission)” was published, with technical and equipment support provided by Huang Kaiyang’s NIKYANG ENTERPRISE LIMITED and the Swiss company CAMAG.

In fact, the original CAMAG automated detection equipment and systems were designed for Western pharmaceuticals. After identifying suitable instruments for introduction, Huang Kaiyang’s greatest challenge was adapting them to the Chinese context. Through countless experiments and adjustments, Huang Kaiyang and NIKYANG ENTERPRISE LIMITED successfully achieved a “grafting” of Chinese and Western approaches, developing equipment adapted for Chinese laboratories.

In 2021, CAMAG and NIKYANG ENTERPRISE LIMITED launched the new HPTLC Pro (Fully Automated Digital Thin-Layer Chromatography System), which can continuously perform spotting, development, derivatization, detection, analysis, and reporting online. The system provides uniform coloration, meets the RSD < 5% requirement of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, and is particularly suitable for sample separation and detection, achieving full automation, digitalization, and informatization.

The successful “grafting” of Chinese and Western approaches has also enabled NIKYANG ENTERPRISE LIMITED to forge a path toward the integration of Chinese and Western medicine.Huang Kaiyang stated that, given the highly complex composition of traditional Chinese medicine, NIKYANG ENTERPRISE LIMITED has summarized and systematized numerous technical requirements, based on which it proposed a technical improvement plan to CAMAG.

“Currently, most traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) enterprises in China adopt CAMAG automated testing equipment and systems. This trend has prompted many competing companies from Europe and the United States to introduce technologies and improved products for the Chinese market, thereby advancing the scientific standardization and internationalization of TCM,” stated Huang Kaiyang.What he most hopes to see is the further expansion of the boundaries of analysis and research on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), ultimately enabling TCM to attain scientific status and value equivalent to those of Western medicine.

In 2010, led by the Ministry of Health of China, as the sole supplier of thin-layer chromatography instruments for the centralized procurement project of laboratory equipment at drug control institutes in central and western regions under the China FDA (now renamed the National Institutes for Food and Drug Control, NIFDC),NIKYANG ENTERPRISE LIMITED was responsible for the installation and user training of nearly 200 CAMAG thin-layer chromatography (TLC) systems at more than 170 drug testing institutions of various levels across central and western China, thereby promoting the widespread adoption and application of standardized and automated TLC analysis within the drug testing system.

When the author asked why NIKYANG ENTERPRISE LIMITED had been selected by the China FDA, Huang Kaiyang proudly stated, “On one hand, the instruments and equipment we provide are representative of world-class advanced technology and exhibit a high degree of compatibility with the project. The hardware equipment required by the China FDA is an area where our products are renowned globally.”“Another aspect is that, through the services we provide, NIKYANG ENTERPRISE LIMITED has never been limited to merely selling instruments; we also assist our clients in method development and validation.”

Huang Kaiyang repeatedly emphasized that it was not merely a transaction; “we also helped him develop methodologies and resolve issues encountered during experiments. At the time, even the largest instrument companies might not have offered such services.”

Currently, NIKYANG ENTERPRISE LIMITED is not only focused on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), but also has a presence in the fields of biopharmaceuticals, chemical pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals, food manufacturing, new energy, and new materials.

The nation must develop basic sciences, which cannot be achieved without the advancement of laboratory automation.Relevant reports indicate that China currently relies on imports for 90% of its scientific instrumentation. While domestically produced instruments are gaining momentum, there is still a long road ahead.

Focusing on current laboratories in China, experimental methods remain largely traditional and rely heavily on manual operations, such as reagent pipetting, filtration, and dilution. This results in low experimental efficiency, with researchers spending a significant amount of time on these tedious and repetitive tasks. Meanwhile, the introduction of human error and staff turnover further reduce the reproducibility of experimental results.

The pandemic has brought laboratory automation into the spotlight, driving a further surge in demand for automated and intelligent laboratory solutions. Laboratories also need to adopt automation to transform inefficient manual processes into high-throughput automated operations.

Huang Kaiyang analyzed to the author,At the current stage, China still needs to import high-end laboratory automation equipment from abroad.However, after introduction, how to effectively utilize these solutions and practically meet localized needs has become another challenge.

Unlike other automated laboratories, NIKYANG ENTERPRISE LIMITED’s products are not self-developed; instead, the company has established stable and amicable partnerships with world-renowned laboratory instrument and equipment manufacturers such as Sotax, Chemspeed, Camag, Sepiatec, and Technobis, serving as their sole authorized distributor in China.

Chemspeed is a cutting-edge automated experimental platform applied in R&D, capable of automating the entire experimental workflow for compound screening and synthesis, new material development, catalyst development, and polymer research.

During the R&D phase, experimental scenarios and conditions are highly variable, imposing greater demands on the flexibility of automated instrumentation. To meet this need, the Chemspeed automation system adopts a modular design, allowing for the flexible combination of over 60 automated tools—such as the GDU (overhead weighing and dispensing unit) and high-precision high-throughput reactors—to accommodate experimental applications across diverse fields.

In addition,Also, Sotax’s automated drug dissolution and testing equipment, such as the CE 7smart, AT50, and TPW,It enables efficient testing of poorly soluble formulations and sample pretreatment, thereby accelerating R&D progress and shortening the time from drug development to market launch.

Technobis Crystal16 and Crystalline crystallization systems, applied in crystallization R&D, enable crystal form optimization with minimal sample consumption through high-throughput screening; Sepiatec’s HPLC and SFC separation product lines, including models such as Sepbox, Sepmatix, and Prep SFC, facilitate large-scale separation and screening of natural products.

“The most significant distinction, in my view, is that our products are well-established and have been successfully commercialized. They carry strong international credibility, representing a solution already recognized by numerous customers worldwide.”This is how Huang Kaiyang describes his understanding of the product model of NIKYANG ENTERPRISE LIMITED.

When the author asked about the gap between China and the rest of the world in laboratory automation, Huang Kaiyang replied with a mix of humor and seriousness, “The difference in hardware is not significant. China’s economic development and emphasis on scientific research have been continuously narrowing the hardware gap between China and the rest of the world.”“The gap lies primarily in construction management, requirements for data integrity, and software aspects such as personnel training. In laboratory management, we are still at the stage of addressing issues as they arise, whereas international counterparts have implemented more comprehensive automation and achieved greater maturity.”

In 2019, NIKYANG ENTERPRISE LIMITED launched the LABVO Smart Laboratory. By incorporating robotic arms and wearable devices, this laboratory standardizes personnel operations, thereby preventing experimental errors or excessive deviations that could lead to resource waste.

Among these, the Smart Guide feature in intelligent laboratories can alert operators to whether parameters such as sample stirring time and color intensity meet specified standards, and even guide laboratory personnel through experiments in a step-by-step manner. Meanwhile, intelligent laboratories will enable real-time recording of operational process data, thereby enhancing the traceability of experimental procedures.

Beyond industrial applications, Huang Kaiyang mentioned to the author that NIKYANG may potentially bring such smart laboratories to educational settings in the future.

Huang Kaiyang stated that domestic laboratories must genuinely and effectively make better use of automated equipment. First, researchers need to become accustomed to transitioning from manual laboratory processes to automation. Second, we should actively explore concepts for next-generation laboratory communication and management models, such as human-computer interaction applications, to firmly establish the concept of automated and intelligent laboratories in the Chinese market.