Gan & Lee Pharmaceuticals and XtalPi Jointly Establish 'AI-Peptide Delivery Lab' Recognized as Beijing Key Laboratory

(Source:Gan&Lee Pharmaceuticals）

Recently, the “AI Smart Peptide Delivery Laboratory” (full name: Beijing Key Laboratory for Artificial Intelligence-Based Peptide Drug Design and Delivery System R&D), jointly established by Gan&Lee Pharmaceuticals (stock code: 603087.SH) as the lead applicant and XtalPi (stock code: 2228.HK), was officially recognized as a “Beijing Key Laboratory” and unveiled.

Academician Ma Guanghui of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and The World Academy of Sciences; Academician Andrei K. Yudin of the Royal Society of Canada; Dr. Gan Zhongru, Founder of Gan&Lee Pharmaceuticals; Dr. Chen Wei, Chairman and CEO of Gan&Lee Pharmaceuticals; Dr. Lai Lipeng, Co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer of XtalPi; and other experts and guests attended the unveiling ceremony.

AI-Powered Peptide DeliveryBeijingOfficial Unveiling of the Key Laboratory

Leveraging Gan&Lee Pharmaceuticals’ deep industrial expertise in metabolic diseases and XtalPi’s cutting-edge technological advantages and proven track record in AI-driven drug discovery, the laboratory focuses on research in the field of chronic metabolic diseases. It is committed to building an end-to-end technology platform encompassing “molecular design–delivery development–clinical translation,” aiming to address prevalent industry pain points in long-term treatment, including poor patient adherence, frequent dosing, and low oral bioavailability.

Currently, benefiting from the explosive growth of GLP-1 drugs, peptide therapeutics are entering a golden age of development, with R&D directions rapidly evolving toward new modalities such as multi-targeting, oral administration, and long-acting formulations. However, inherent bottlenecks, including the susceptibility of peptide molecules to degradation in vivo and low efficiency in targeted delivery, severely constrain their clinical translation. Meanwhile, the long-standing reliance on imported high-end delivery carriers and core manufacturing processes has become a critical choke point hindering the industrialization of innovative drugs in China. In this context, the establishment of the laboratory is timely.

According to Zhang Yining, the head of the laboratory, the lab is primarily focusing on technological breakthroughs in three key areas: first, building an AI-driven integrated platform for “virtual screening plus wet-lab validation” to advance the design and druggability optimization of peptide molecules for treating metabolic chronic diseases; second, developing novel oral delivery systems to enhance the gastrointestinal stability, transmembrane transport efficiency, and bioavailability of peptide drugs; and third, exploring ultra-long-acting delivery and controlled-release formulation technologies to extend dosing intervals.

Zhang Yining, Head of the Beijing Key Laboratory of AI-Powered Peptide Delivery

As the lead supporting entity for the laboratory, Gan&Lee Pharmaceuticals has provided solid support for its construction through long-term strategic layout and continuous investment in the field of metabolism. In 2025, the company’s R&D expenditure reached RMB 1.341 billion, accounting for 33.08% of its operating revenue. The company has established a foundational presence in areas such as weekly insulin formulations and biweekly GLP-1 formulations, and possesses sustained development capabilities for long-acting peptides/proteins and other drugs. Meanwhile, Gan&Lee Pharmaceuticals has built a complete capability closed loop encompassing “peptide molecular design – delivery system development – translational research for metabolic chronic diseases,” enabling the laboratory to efficiently conduct full-process validation from target discovery to industrialization, thereby significantly accelerating the clinical translation efficiency of innovative achievements.

“The establishment of the ‘Beijing Key Laboratory of AI-Driven Peptides’ marks a strategically significant milestone for Gan&Lee Pharmaceuticals on its innovative journey of integrating artificial intelligence with biopharmaceuticals.” Chen Wei, Chairman and CEO of Gan&Lee Pharmaceuticals, stated, “The laboratory is jointly established by Gan&Lee Pharmaceuticals, XtalPi, and the Institute of Process Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. By leveraging their complementary strengths, the collaboration has created an innovative model that deeply integrates AI-driven problem-solving, fundamental research, and industrial expansion. This ecosystem integration is essential for China’s biopharmaceutical industry to transition from ‘Fast Follow’ to ‘First-in-class.’”

Chen Wei, Chairman and CEO of Gan&Lee Pharmaceuticals

As a co-establishing institution of this laboratory, Li Lipeng, Co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer of XtalPi, stated: “The recognition of the ‘AI Smart Peptide Delivery Laboratory’ as a Beijing Key Laboratory marks a new phase in the strategic partnership between XtalPi and Gan&Lee Pharmaceuticals. We look forward to leveraging this laboratory as a platform to fully utilize XtalPi’s end-to-end early-stage R&D technological advantages in AI-driven peptide molecular design, automated synthesis, and high-throughput wet-lab screening. By combining these capabilities with Gan&Lee Pharmaceuticals’ decades of industrial expertise and outstanding clinical translation capabilities in the field of metabolic peptides, we will jointly tackle industrial challenges in long-acting modification and intelligent delivery, thereby accelerating the clinical development of more novel peptide drugs with differentiated advantages.”

Lai Lipeng, Co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer of XtalPi

Looking ahead, Chen Wei stated that the company will uphold the philosophy of deep collaboration and win-win development, achieve a tight alignment between R&D objectives and pipeline strategy, and build the laboratory into a source hub for generating original innovative technologies and cultivating high-end talent. This effort aims to drive key breakthroughs in domestically produced innovative peptide drugs for metabolic chronic diseases, thereby contributing to the high-quality development of China’s innovative pharmaceutical industry.

About Gan&Lee Pharmaceuticals

Gan&Lee Pharmaceuticals (abbreviated as: Gan&Lee, stock code: 603087.SH), as China's first high-tech biopharmaceutical company to master the industrialized production technology of recombinant insulin analogs, possesses a complete insulin R&D pipeline.

Currently, the company has six core insulin products, including five insulin analogs: long-acting insulin glargine injection (Changxiulin®), rapid-acting insulin lispro injection (Suxiulin®), insulin aspart injection (Ruixiulin®), premixed protamine zinc recombinant insulin lispro mixed injection (25R) (Suxiulin® 25), and insulin aspart 30 injection (Ruixiulin® 30); as well as human insulin products: premixed protamine human insulin mixed injection (30R) (Puxiulin® 30) and related supporting devices. The product portfolio covers three functional segments of the insulin market: long-acting, rapid-acting, and premixed.

Gan&Lee Pharmaceuticals ranked first among selected enterprises in the contracted volume for insulin analogs in China’s second centralized volume-based procurement of insulin, further solidifying its domestic market foundation. Meanwhile, the company’s internationalization efforts are advancing steadily, with its insulin glargine injection, insulin lispro injection, and insulin aspart injection all having received marketing authorization from the European Commission (EC), marking steady progress toward becoming a core player in the global metabolic disease sector.

In the future, Gan&Lee Pharmaceuticals will strive to achieve comprehensive coverage in the field of diabetes treatment, further enhancing the company's market competitiveness in this area. The company will also actively develop new chemical drugs and biological innovations, with a focus on metabolic diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and other therapeutic areas.