Biotech firm dreams of changing drugs world
Beijing Genomics Institute hopes to use recent acquisition to build DNA database
A small biotech start-up company based in Shenzhen has had a dream of developing an intriguing technology that might change the landscape of the drug-making industry in China and the world.
Wang Jun, a biologist-turned-entrepreneur is behind the Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI), a bio-informatic, genomics, and technology company.
It made a significant step towards becoming a personalised drug-maker after completing the US$119 million acquisition of Complete Genomics, a US-listed human genome sequencing company.
In an interview with the South China Morning Post, 37-year-old Wang said he wanted to build up "a big database of 100 million DNA combinations in human beings through leveraging Complete Genomics' existing intellectual property rights and devices". After establishing the genetic sequence database, he said, many diseases could be cured based on the findings.
Wang, who received his doctoral degree from Peking University, said one of the challenges that weighed on the acquisi- tion process was the loss- making US company's continuing patent lawsuit hiatus, though cross-border legal experts have helped ease the legal uncertainties.
BGI, which was founded in 1999, has raised four billion yuan by selling a 40 per cent equity stake to a consortium of 14 private equity and venture capital investors including China Everbright, Japan's Softbank, Sequoia Capital of the US and Yunfeng Capital, a Shanghai-headquartered private equity firm founded by Alibaba's Jack Ma Yun and media veteran Yu Feng.