Sinolink Health Group, CAS Venture Capital, Institute of Biophysics, and Institute of Automation Launch 'Three-Chain Synergy' Initiative to Accelerate Medical Technology Commercialization
VCBeat has learned that on May 27 in Beijing, at the inaugural 4P Collaborative Innovation Forum and Medical Health Technology Achievement Promotion Conference (hereinafter referred to as the “Forum”), CAS Venture Capital Management Co., Ltd. announced a strategic investment in New Century Healthcare Group Co., Ltd. Additionally, the Institute of Biophysics and the Institute of Automation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences respectively signed agreements with New Century Healthcare Group Co., Ltd. for the translation and application of scientific and technological achievements.
Yu Jiang, Deputy General Manager of CAS Capital, and Zhou Ziqing, Assistant President of New Milestone Hospital Group, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective parties. Witnessing the signing were Mou Kexiong, Party Secretary of the Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences (back row, far left); Xu Hang, Deputy Director of the Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (back row, second from right); Wu Lebin, Chairman of CAS Capital (back row, second from left); and Lin Yanglin, CEO of New Milestone Hospital Group (back row, far right).
The forum was hosted by CAS Venture Capital Management Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “CAS VC”) and held at the Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (hereinafter referred to as “IBP, CAS”). Sun Ming, Deputy Director of the Bureau of Science and Technology for Development of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; Mu Kexiong, Party Secretary of the Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences (hereinafter referred to as “IA, CAS”); Xu Hang, Deputy Director of IBP, CAS; Wu Lebin, Chairman of CAS VC; and Lin Yanglin, CEO of New Journey Hospital Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “New Journey Hospital Group”), among others, attended the forum and delivered remarks.
Dr. Shen Sheng from the Science and Technology Division of the Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and Mr. Cao Wenhui, Vice President of New Journey Hospital Group, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective parties. The signing ceremony was witnessed by Mr. Wu Lebin, Chairman of CAS Capital; Mr. Mou Kexiong, Party Secretary of the Institute of Automation, CAS; Mr. Xu Hang, Deputy Director of the Institute of Biophysics, CAS; and Mr. Lin Yanglin, CEO of New Journey Hospital Group.
CAS Venture Capital is a fund investment company established by CAS Holdings Co., Ltd. to facilitate the commercialization of scientific and technological achievements and support early- to mid-stage technology enterprises. The Institute of Biophysics and the Institute of Automation, both under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), are leading domestic research institutes in the fields of life and health, and intelligent science and technology, respectively, with a commitment to achieving international excellence. Their close collaboration with New Journey Hospital Group, one of China’s largest comprehensive hospital groups, aims to accelerate the promotion and application of technological innovations in the healthcare sector, thereby bridging the “last mile” between applied basic research and industrialization.
Sun Shousheng, Deputy Director of the Major Projects and Industrialization Department at the Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and Cao Wenhui, Vice President of New Journey Hospital Group, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective parties. The signing ceremony was witnessed by Wu Lebin, Chairman of CAS Venture Capital; Mou Kexiong, Party Secretary of the Institute of Automation, CAS; Xu Hang, Deputy Director of the Institute of Biophysics, CAS; and Lin Yanglin, CEO of New Journey Hospital Group.
Following the strategic investment in New Journey Hospital Group by CAS Venture Capital, both parties will actively engage in strategic synergy and cooperation in areas such as industrial investment, startup incubation, and technological and service innovation. This collaboration aims to promote the sharing, coordination, integration, and complementarity of their respective advantageous resources. For instance, New Journey Hospital Group will provide practical platforms and collaborative services for projects invested in by CAS Venture Capital, thereby facilitating their practical implementation and rapid development, and enhancing the translation capabilities of medical service technologies.
Speech by Wu Lebin, Chairman of CAS Capital
Wu Lebin, Chairman of CAS Venture Capital, stated: “CAS Venture Capital’s investment in New Journey Hospital Group is driven by three key considerations. First, it responds to the central government’s call. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, General Secretary Xi Jinping explicitly emphasized adhering to the ‘Four Orientations’ to accelerate scientific and technological innovation, specifically highlighting the orientation toward safeguarding people’s lives and health. Meanwhile, we fully recognize that with advancements in technology and economic development, societal demand for healthcare has become increasingly robust, serving as a powerful demand-driven force. Second, New Journey represents a new model that is fully market-oriented while managing a large portfolio of state-owned enterprise hospitals. Third, its affiliated hospitals can serve as important platforms for translating biomedical and health-related scientific and technological achievements from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, as well as end-users of such innovations.”
CAS Capital is committed to advancing the “grafting” of the innovation chain and the industrial chain to foster clusters of technological and industrial innovation; it promotes the integrated linkage of the innovation chain, industrial chain, and capital chain, thereby building a 4P relay ecosystem comprising IP (Intellectual Property), LP (Limited Partners), GP (General Partners), and SP (Strategic Partners) to achieve strategic synergy.
Xu Hang, Deputy Director of the Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), stated: “Through the tireless efforts of several generations of scientists and technologists, the Institute of Biophysics, CAS, has traversed a glorious journey spanning more than half a century. It has pioneered and advanced research and development in disciplines such as cell biology, radiobiology, space biology, enzymology, structural biology, membrane biology, neurobiology, biological cybernetics, and biophysical engineering technology. The institute has achieved numerous high-level research outcomes, assembled, trained, and cultivated a cohort of outstanding scientists, and developed a portfolio of high-tech products. Meanwhile, the institute has actively explored new models and approaches for the commercialization of scientific and technological achievements, incubating and establishing multiple high-tech enterprises, including Sino-Biocontrol and Bio-Pharm.”
Xu Hang, Deputy Director of the Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Delivers Remarks
The Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and New Mileage Hospital Group will join hands to promote the application of scientific research achievements in biophysics within the healthcare sector. They will engage in in-depth cooperation in areas such as biotechnology research, grant applications for research projects, clinical application of pharmaceuticals, development of industry standards and norms, and innovation of business models. Both parties have agreed to conduct joint R&D and business collaboration in medical technologies related to biopharmaceuticals, in vitro diagnostics, and tumor therapy. Furthermore, they will cooperate in incubating early-stage scientific and technological achievements in disciplines including protein science, brain and cognitive sciences, infection and immunity, and nucleic acid biology, thereby accelerating the industrialization of science and technology in these fields.
Speech by Mu Kexiong, Secretary of the Party Committee of the Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Mou Kexiong, Party Secretary of the Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CASIA), stated: “CASIA has always taken national needs as its mission and responsibility. Oriented toward the life and health of the people, it has initially established an innovation ecosystem for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements in key areas such as ‘AI + Manufacturing’ and ‘AI + Healthcare.’ New Journey Hospital Group is a reformer, leader, and innovator in the healthcare services industry. By joining hands with New Journey Group, CASIA aims to empower public health through artificial intelligence, with the vision of building an industry-academia-research system for smart healthcare. Focusing on the research and development of smart healthcare software and hardware, as well as the promotion of innovative medical devices, we will explore and practice innovative models for the smart healthcare industry, accelerate the deep integration and demonstration applications of technological innovations in the healthcare sector, and promote the innovative development of the smart healthcare industry.”
Sun Ming, Deputy Director of the Bureau of Science and Technology for Development Promotion, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Delivers Remarks
Sun Ming, Deputy Director of the Bureau of Science and Technology for Development at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), stated: “In 2015, under the framework of the ‘Pioneering Action’ Plan, CAS launched the ‘Special Initiative to Promote the Transfer and Commercialization of Scientific and Technological Achievements.’ By fostering close integration with institute-affiliated investment enterprises and relevant industrial sectors, we have effectively driven the synergistic linkage of the innovation chain, industrial chain, and capital chain. This effort aims to build innovative platforms that facilitate the transfer and commercialization of scientific and technological achievements, while cultivating an environment and atmosphere conducive to such activities.”
How Can Scientific Research Achievements Be Translated into Real Productive Forces? This is a global challenge. In recent years, China has successively introduced policies such as the Several Provisions on Implementing the Law of the People's Republic of China on Promoting the Transformation of Scientific and Technological Achievements and the Action Plan for Promoting the Transfer and Transformation of Scientific and Technological Achievements, yielding initial results in facilitating the translation of scientific achievements. However, a systematic ecosystem for the transformation of scientific outcomes has yet to be established.
At the conference of academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, General Secretary Xi Jinping stated: “There is insufficient capacity to transfer and transform scientific and technological achievements, realize industrialization, and create market value… We must strengthen applied basic research, leverage major science and technology projects as key drivers, bridge the ‘last mile,’ remove the ‘fences’ that hinder industrialization, clear the fast lane connecting applied basic research with industrialization, facilitate precise alignment between the innovation chain and the industrial chain, accelerate the transformation of scientific research outcomes from prototypes to products and then to commodities, and fully apply scientific and technological achievements to the cause of modernization.”
The Chinese Academy of Sciences’ venture capital arm has made a strategic investment in New Journey Hospital Group. Concurrently, New Journey has entered into a strategic cooperation agreement with two major research institutes under the Chinese Academy of Sciences to facilitate the commercialization of scientific and technological achievements. This move not only responds to the national call and addresses the public’s health needs but also meets the practical requirements for New Journey Hospital Group’s development into a leading domestic health industry conglomerate.
Previously, New Milestone Hospital Group had entered into a strategic partnership with Sinobiocontrol (full name: Sinobiocontrol Biotechnology Co., Ltd.), an enterprise incubated by the Institute of Biophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, to jointly explore innovative projects in the field of laboratory medicine. Additionally, hospitals under New Milestone Hospital Group have collaborated with companies incubated by the Institute of Automation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in areas such as security identification systems.
Remarks by Lin Yanglin, CEO of New Journey Hospital Group
Lin Yanglin, CEO of New Horizon Hospital Group, stated, “New Horizon Hospital Group is implementing its ‘Hospital+’ strategy. While continuously integrating medical institutions through mergers and acquisitions for expansion, we remain committed to leveraging hospital settings as the entry point for industry development, fostering leading enterprises across various upstream and downstream niche sectors. This includes strategic layouts in ‘Hospital + Pharmaceuticals,’ ‘Hospital + Biotechnology,’ and ‘Hospital + Smart Healthcare.’ New Horizon has always regarded promoting the translation of scientific and technological achievements in the broader health sector as one of its strategic missions. Today, we are honored to provide a practical platform and application base for the commercialization of research outcomes from the Institute of Biophysics and the Institute of Automation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). By connecting with representative institutions along the ‘innovation chain,’ we will help more early-stage scientific and technological achievements from CAS yield fruitful applications.”
The Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, is a national foundational research institute for life sciences. Leveraging its comprehensive advantages in multidisciplinary integration, it has achieved fundamental, forward-looking, and strategic breakthroughs in frontier fields such as protein science, brain and cognitive science, infection and immunity, and nucleic acid biology. The Institute strengthens the innovative development of key instrumentation in the life sciences, achieves major breakthroughs in core technologies and experimental methods, and establishes a translational research system focused on biopharmaceuticals and in vitro diagnostics. Playing a pivotal role as a source of original innovation and providing backbone and leadership within the national innovation system, the Institute consistently produces significant, pioneering scientific achievements, striving to join the ranks of world-class institutes in the fields of life and health.
The Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CASIA), established in October 1956, is China’s earliest national research institute dedicated to automation and the first national institution to conduct research on brain-inspired intelligence. CASIA serves as one of the supporting institutions for the “Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology,” acts as the legal entity responsible for constructing the “Interdisciplinary Research Platform for Brain Cognitive Functional Mapping and Brain-Inspired Intelligence” under the 13th Five-Year Plan’s science and education infrastructure projects, and leads the establishment of the country’s first “School of Artificial Intelligence.” The institute boasts a comprehensive disciplinary layout and areas of expertise spanning intelligent mechanisms, intelligent chips, intelligent algorithms, and intelligent systems.
CAS Venture Capital Management Co., Ltd. was initiated and established by CAS Holdings Limited. With the mission of “facilitating technological innovation and achieving capital appreciation,” the company adheres to the principles of innovation-driven development, capital empowerment, and industrial growth. By fully leveraging market mechanisms and value laws, it aggregates and integrates high-quality social resources. Through a parent-subsidiary fund structure, the company aims to become a fund investment firm with domestic and even international influence in the commercialization of scientific and technological achievements and in supporting early- to mid-stage technology enterprises.