On February 9, in Chengdu, Li Jin (middle), CEO of Chengdu HitGen Inc., is communicating with staff in the laboratory.

 

Li Jin (left) is working with member of technology team in commissioning new equipment

 

As many as stars in Milky Way galaxy

Here you can see neatly arranged ordinary laboratory refrigerators. Open a refrigerator door, you will see transparent tubes in layers upon layers of plastic boxes. Never look down upon the tubes, as they contain mixture of astronomical magnitude. This is the chemical compound "freezer" of Chengdu HitGen Inc., which contains 150 billion unique DNA labelled molecules, equivalent to the number of stars in Milky Way galaxy.

Global No. 1 in small molecule field

Built by Li Jin, Chairman of Chengdu HitGen Inc., it is China's first "Drug Seed Bank" and global No. 1 in small molecule field. With the implementation of "Healthy China" strategy, it has attracted more and more attention of world top pharmaceutical firms. In 2017, it became the "seed bank" for new drug R&D for Pfizer, Merck & Co., Inc., Johnson & Johnson, and other firms, securing contracts worth RMB 2.8 billion, 10 times of 2016.

20km away from Chengdu HitGen Inc., the construction of Chengdu Tianfu International Biopolis is well underway. The main structure of Chengdu HitGen's new office building will be completed. It is estimated that besides Chengdu HitGen, WestChina-Frontier PharmaTech and other pharmaceutical firms will also settle down here. Many of them are the upstream and downstream partners of Chengdu HitGen. Soon afterwards, a bioindustry ecosphere with international competitiveness and regional spillover effects will be shaped here.

If things go smoothly, Chengdu HitGen's first original new drug will be created here. Application has been made now, signifying that Chengdu HitGen will shift from the rear-end of molecule offering to front-end of drug production and that China's another innovative drug will be created in Chengdu.

Frontier

In the afternoon on February 9, in F10, B3, Tianfu Life Science Park, No. 88, Keyuan South Road, Chengdu Hi-tech Zone, a batch of new Nucleic Acid isolation machines just arrived. Li Jin and his team members were commissioning new equipment. Half an hour later, he had a management meeting, and afterwards, he set out to Hainan for a small party.

Competing with top rivals worldwide R&D cooperation with Pfizer, Merck & Co., Inc., and Johnson & Johnson

Over the years, Li Jin has been accustomed to such a working pace. Particularly in 2017, the company gained strong development momentum. It signed special contract of new drugs for lung cancer, and established R&D cooperation with Pfizer, Merck & Co., Inc., and Johnson & Johnson. Multinational pharmaceutical companies scramble to tender the olive branch to Chengdu HitGen.

In April 2017, the company entered cooperation with Pfizer, the world's largest biomedicine company. Pfizer will use Chengdu HitGen's "DNA Encoded Compound Library" synthesis and screening techniques, which are the company's independent intellectual property rights, to build Pfizer's exclusive "Drug Seed Bank" and promote new drug R&D.

In October 2017, Kehui Innovation, Chengdu HitGen and Chengdu Tianfu International Biopolis signed third-party agreement to invest in new drug cooperative R&D project. Kehui Innovation is a company under the flag of Pfizer and Chinese Academy of Sciences.

According to Li Jin, Chengdu HitGen will use its unique technical strength to build a diversified "DNA Encoded Compound Library" with independent intellectual property rights for Pfizer, aiming to develop new drugs by screening unique micromolecule lead compounds in the libraries.

Meanwhile, Chengdu HitGen will use the "DNA Encoded Compound Library" platform, which contains 150 billion chemical compounds, to screen a number of treatment targets that interest Pfizer, such as heart and blood vessels, tumor, immunity, neurosciences, and metabolic disease. The sifted whole-new lead compounds will be transferred exclusively to Pfizer, which will pay research fees to Chengdu HitGen.

According to Li Jin, the "DNA Encoded Compound Library" design and screening technique is among the most frontier technologies in modern new drug discovery field, and the origin of original drug R&D. Chengdu HitGen is committed to building the world's best "DNA Encoded Compound Library" with independent intellectual property rights, which will serve as the "seed bank" of new drug creation. Chengdu HitGen is among the three global companies that engage in scaled new drug R&D cooperation with this technique. There are two reasons that explain why Chengdu HitGen is capable of beating its global top competitors: first, the company has finished the synthesis of 150 billion micromolecule DNA coding compounds, thus the world's No. 1 in micromolecule field; second, with the implementation of "Healthy China" strategy, health and medicine industry has geared onto a track of fast development. Facing the opportunities brought about by the times, Chengdu has drawn the attention of global giants with multiple new models of reform and innovation.

Chengdu drifters

Putting on his white coat, Li Jin walked out the office, turn right, enter the elevator, and walk into the laboratory. In just one minute, Li Jin changed from the chairman and CEO of Chengdu HitGen into a researcher.

Spotting opportunities in homeland, executive of Fortune Global 500 returns Chengdu to start business

Born in Youyang, Chongqing, Li Jin pursued further study in the UK after graduation. Since then, he has engaged in the research of biomedicine industry. In 2006, Li Jin, then Global Scientific Director of Compounds at AstraZeneca, a Fortune Global 500 company, returned home on a business trip, when he witnessed the fast development of China's biomedicine industry and was impressed.

During his cooperation with Chinese medicine enterprises, Li Jin found that many of them lacked R&D capability and innovation resources for original drugs. In his eyes, the treatment demands of patients cannot be met by only relying on imitating foreign drugs with expired patents, "Take lung cancer as an example, currently there are no safe, desirable drugs in the market, which means we should channel more inputs in new drug research."

"If the final drug is a towering tree, then lead compound is a seed, which later will grow into the tree." That is how the idea of returning home to start a business burgeoned. He wanted to establish DNA coding Small Molecule Libraries, the world's most advanced chemical compound screening platform, capable of laying a foundation for drug discovery in the future and filling technical vacuum in China.

In June 2012, Dr. Li Jin quitted the position of Global Scientific Director of Compounds at AstraZeneca. Using the "DNA coding chemical compound library synthesis and screening technology platform" as a startup project, he returned home and founded Chengdu HitGen. After months of investigation and analysis, he chose Chengdu as a place to start a business. In his eyes, Chengdu is home to a large number of colleges and universities, a horde of talents, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, and many other prestigious hospitals, and some large medicine firms. All these strengthened his confidence in starting a business here. "I myself had studied in Chengdu, and find the familiar city very amiable."

Li Jin took his well-prepared materials to have a formal contact with the Management Committee of Chengdu Hi-tech Zone. In just one hour, they reached to an agreement: Li Jin's enterprise will settle down in Chengdu Hi-tech Zone, enjoying house rental reduction and exemption, laboratory building subsidy, and start-up capital.

Talking about introducing the leading enterprise in biomedicine field, a responsible person of Chengdu Hi-tech Zone said, "Chengdu Hi-tech Zone has been improving the startup ecosphere including talent, capital, vehicle, platform, and government service." In Chengdu Hi-tech Zone, despite changes in the team engaging with Chengdu HitGen, the supporting policies remain unchanged, and supports are offered according to R&D progress, together with "going global" and other resource platforms, "For industries like biomedicine, which entail intensive knowledge, technology, and talent, it is imperative to strengthen exchanges, communication, and strategic cooperation with global top resources."

Development

At Li Jin's hallstand, there are a stack of conference badges, domestic and foreign ones, Chinese and English. The hundreds of badges witnessed his efforts in expanding market. Now one third time of a year is spent on various forums, said Li Jin.

A staff size from 3 to some 300"The present office space cannot accommodate so many people"

It was those platforms that helped Chengdu HitGen in establishing presence in home and overseas market. "A lot of people learned of our model at forums, and contacted us to visit the company." Among the entrepreneurs who came to discuss business, many of them came China for the first time. Li Jin would take them around to visit the laboratory of the company, laboratories in Sichuan University, and even see pandas, and feel Jinsha culture, said Li Jin with emotion.

"The cooperation of two enterprises involves all aspects, such as the economic and social development of a city, R&D and innovation strength, and cultural atmosphere." Particularly, in terms of R&D and innovation strength, Chengdu is home to 11 national, ministerial-level, and industry-university-research laboratories in bioindustry. In Sichuan University's State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, Sinopharm Group, Shanghai Pharmaceuticals Holding, Yangtze River Pharmaceutical Group, CSPC Pharmaceutical Group, and other 30-odd enterprises have transformed some 60 Type I new drugs, and five of them have obtained clinical approval, "All these are the competitive edge for corporate development."

On the other hand, Chengdu HitGen also serves as a window for other enterprises to know more about Chengdu. By virtue of his cooperation with Chengdu HitGen, Zhao Chunlin, who has invested in biomedicine for nearly 10 years, has started to show interest in Chengdu. As the chairman of Kehui Innovation, Zhao Chunlin sighed that Sichuan offers very marked policy advantages. Besides capital, the province also offers other supports to bioindustry, which means a large space of R&D and innovation for enterprises.

"Here in Chengdu, I found the city enjoys sound biomedicine development, and I am excited to see the environment of Chengdu Tianfu International Biopolis, and relevant policies." MICHAEL A·WHITE, Vice President of Tumor R&D and Cellular Biology of Tumor, and Chief Science Officer of Pfizer, said that Chengdu has a sound biomedicine environment, and the policy support for the industry is very exciting.

Now, the company's staff size has grown from the original 3 to some 300. Among the employees, 8 senior executives have rich research experience in Fortune Global 500, and 20% of employees have doctor's degree, and 45% master's degree. "Now the office is not large enough." Li Jin plans to recruits scores of employees in 2018. Since the current office space looks cramped, Chengdu HitGen signed a cooperation agreement with Chengdu Tianfu International Biopolis. RMB 500 million will be invested in the Biopolis to build Chengdu HitGen new drug R&D center, and the whole company will move in.

Dream

On July 2, 2017, at the National Central City Industrial Development Conference held in Chengdu, decisions were made on the building of a modern industrial system with international competitiveness and regional spillover effects, followed by a series of new industrial policies.

Building R&D pipelines for new drugs
The first original new drug gets declared

According to the responsible person of Chengdu Municipal Economic and Informatization Commission, hi-tech enterprises like Chengdu HitGen receive regular visits of service persons, who help resolve their problems in traffic, talent, technology, and other aspects.

At set intervals, Chengdu would comb through existing industrial support policies, complement and strengthen relevant policy measures, take holistic measures in policy, elements, service, guarantee, and other aspects, make targeted and concerted efforts to channel more quality resources and elements to outstanding enterprises, seeking to lay a foundation for industrial upgrade.

Benefiting from such a policy system, Chengdu HitGen has secured sustained development, "In the coming three years, Chengdu HitGen will have over 1 trillion core chemical compounds and 200-plus international and domestic new drug R&D partners."

The company has even built R&D pipelines for new drugs. Supported by DNA Encoded Compound Library, the company now has 20-plus new drug projects under R&D, targeting at chronic, major diseases, like tumor, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, respiratory diseases, and other fields. Up to date, one of its projects has finished clinical declaration, five are at the stage of pre-clinical candidate compounds, and two at lead compound optimization stage, "It is predicted that in the coming three years, 2-3 varieties will finish new drug clinical declaration, and 2-3 projects will realize international transfer."

"Actually, in pharmaceutical industry chain, only innovative drugs stand at the top forever." He cited such an example: AstraZeneca, where he acted as Global Scientific Director of Compounds, has annual sales revenue over RMB 200 billion, relying on just 10-plus kinds of innovative drugs.

Just returning home, Li Jin also thought to develop new drugs, but he "shunned" the field. In the industry, there is a saying of "three 10s" when it comes to new drug development: it takes about 10 years to develop a new drug and put it onto market; an average USD 1 billion is needed to launch a new drug to market; the success rate is only 10%.

Currently, Chengdu HitGen handles multiple business lines. According to Li Jin, his long-term objective is to produce new drugs in a cooperative way, "Our screening results will become new drugs of others. During this process, we will also produce new drugs ourselves."

"At this point, we are negotiating with international enterprises in new drug transfer, and the company will have its own innovative drugs." Taking advantage of the Belt and Road Initiative, Chengdu HitGen will integrate more global R&D resources, lead technology progress in the whole new drug industrial chain, and shape innovative drug ecosphere to bring more large medicine firms to China.

Observe

Chengdu's Economy

A new goal of quality development

Chengdu has rolled out a specific implementation roadmap for "leading the way to realize quality economic development".

The city believes that its major challenge is a shift from an industry logic to a people-centered logic, and from production to life, which defines the time value of building a quality, harmonious, livable city.

On one hand, Chengdu will deepen supply side structure reform, the construction of industry functional zones and the building of innovation ecosphere, and accelerate the building of a modern economy system.

On the other hand, the city will work to develop new economy and nurture new drivers. Chengdu will work to develop new economy and nurture new drivers from three aspects: serving the real economy, enhancing functions and quality of the city, and meeting people's demands for a better life. It will move faster to build an industrial system of new economy with Chengdu features, and promote the transformation of "six economic forms" and "seven application scenarios" into new drivers fueling sustainable city development.

Meanwhile, Chengdu will make greater efforts to identify new model for enterprises to go global, and explore the mixed development models of headquarters+ branch, R&D+production, and center+network, so as to output competitive industries, enterprises, technologies, and brands to municipalities and prefectures within Sichuan Province and countries along the Belt and Road. Besides, Chengdu will offer more service guarantee and financial support for enterprises to go global.

Chengdu Economic Daily  Reporter: Ye Yan  Press-photographer: Wang Xiao