Westlake Omics completes tens of millions of RMB in seed funding to advance proteomics research and precision-assisted diagnostics
Dedicated to realizing proteomics-based precision medicine, advancing auxiliary diagnosis of major human diseases.
On March 1, Westlake Omics Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Westlake Omics), a company dedicated to applying proteomics research to clinical auxiliary diagnosis, announced the completion of a tens of millions of RMB seed round, with Gaorong Ventures co-leading the investment. The funding will be used for talent recruitment, breakthroughs in original technology, the establishment of clinical testing laboratories, and the expansion of R&D collaborations.
Founded in July 2020, Westlake Omics is committed to combining proteomics big data with artificial intelligence. Based on mass spectrometry-based biosample digitization technology, the company develops new methods for auxiliary clinical diagnosis using proteomics and other molecular omics, aiming to advance precision auxiliary diagnosis for major human diseases such as cancer.
Proteomics, an emerging discipline born in 1997, represents another breakthrough in humanity's exploration of the mysteries of life activities, following genomics and transcriptomics. Nearly all human life activities are carried out by proteins in the human body. Human health and disease are intimately connected to proteins, and the effectiveness of disease treatment depends on the regulation of protein machinery. Proteomics research not only provides a material foundation for understanding the laws of life activities, but also offers theoretical basis and solutions for elucidating the mechanisms of numerous diseases and conquering them. In recent years, advances in molecular medicine, big data technology, and artificial intelligence have further accelerated the development of proteomics, demonstrating increasingly significant application potential in the field of precision medicine.
Dr. Tiandong Guo, founder of Westlake Omics, is a renowned expert in proteomics and a specially appointed researcher at the School of Life Sciences at Westlake University. He has long been engaged in proteomics-related research and has made multiple original technical achievements in proteomics technology development and application. Dr. Guo previously developed high-throughput proteomics technology based on PCT-SWATH in the proteomics research group led by Professor Ruedi Aebersold in Switzerland, achieving high-reproducibility, high-throughput mass spectrometry analysis of small clinical samples. His research has been published in journals such as Cell, Nature Medicine, and Nature Communications, and the technology has been applied to the study of thousands of tumor proteomics and multi-omics research projects. Currently, Westlake Omics has assembled an interdisciplinary team of professionals spanning proteomics, clinical medicine, and artificial intelligence, and is comprehensively advancing research on "next-generation proteomics clinical translation applications." Through AI and deep learning integrated with clinical medical big data, the team is actively exploring new diagnostic methods and therapeutic targets with clinical application potential. Based on cutting-edge artificial intelligence technologies, they are also building new data analysis and mining models and algorithms tailored to the characteristics of multi-omics life and health big data for target validation. This work aims to solve a series of practical clinical problems, with a focus on precision subtyping, prognosis prediction, and precision treatment for major human diseases such as cancer and metabolic diseases. At this stage, Westlake Omics has used clinical sample testing from clinical cohorts to detect protein expression levels in biological organisms, combined with machine learning, to help predict and assess disease progression, providing auxiliary diagnosis for precision diagnosis and treatment of diseases such as thyroid nodules. In June 2020, a paper co-authored by Guo's team was published on MedRxiv. The study used proteomics big data and AI methods to identify a set of protein molecular markers that could help distinguish between benign and malignant thyroid nodules, potentially significantly improving the accuracy of such determinations. In 2020, Guo's team and collaborators were among the first to complete proteomics and metabolomics analysis of serum from COVID-19 patients with mild and severe cases, identifying a series of characteristic important biomarkers in severe patients. This is expected to provide guidance for predicting the progression of mild cases to severe ones, assisting existing testing and diagnostic methods to achieve more precise and efficient treatment. The research findings were published in Cell.
Dr. Guo stated, "The golden age of proteomics' widespread application in precision medicine is arriving. Our mission is to accurately quantify as many proteins as possible from as small a biological sample as possible in as short a time as possible, thereby deciphering the mathematical laws of life activities and ultimately achieving proteomics-based precision medicine. Going forward, we will continue to challenge world-class technical problems, push boundaries, and contribute to auxiliary diagnosis technologies for major human diseases."
A project lead at Gaorong Ventures commented, "Gaorong Ventures has long been optimistic about the clinical translation and application of multi-omics, believing in the tremendous potential of data's transformation from quantitative to qualitative change, and firmly convinced that China's abundant local clinical resources will give rise to world-class Chinese multi-omics companies. Proteomics is a new door that humanity has pushed open in its exploration of its own genetic mysteries, following genomics and transcriptomics. The unknowns it contains may bring entirely new concepts to clinical diagnosis and treatment, drug development, disease prevention, and prognosis management. The Westlake Omics team has been deeply engaged in proteomics for many years, making innovative achievements in the technical field, solving some underlying technical problems that have long troubled the industry, and has already begun to connect a quality domestic clinical resource network. We look forward to the Westlake Omics team tirelessly continuing to explore upward on the peak of proteomics, while also contributing to the development of multi-omics clinical applications in China." It is reported that in addition to applying research findings to precision auxiliary diagnosis, Westlake Omics will leverage three core advantages — minimal sample volume, high throughput, and high reproducibility — to establish a comprehensive scientific research service technology platform centered on clinical proteomics, providing basic research services for disease diagnosis and treatment and drug development. Currently, Westlake Omics is providing scientific research services to multiple renowned global research institutions and pharmaceutical companies, and building comprehensive cooperative relationships with them.
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