Diagnostic Detectors for Every Ailment: How Much Do You Know About In Vitro Diagnostics?

In 1998, Yang Xing graduated from the California Institute of Technology with a PhD in electrical engineering. Yet rather than pursuing optical communications—a field more closely aligned with his degree—he followed his passion for life sciences and embarked on an entrepreneurial journey in the United States.

Dr. Yang Xing with then-Caltech president Dr. David Baltimore

Dr. Yang held key positions at multiple American life sciences startups, accumulating over two decades of experience in healthcare. He served as Senior Director of R&D at GeneOhm Sciences and VP of R&D at Helixis. After co-founding Epic Sciences, he became its VP of Technology. He later joined Bionano Genomics to lead systems development, and served as VP of R&D for Asia-Pacific and Director of Molecular Diagnostics at bioMérieux. In 2018, he launched his fifth venture in China, founding Accuragen (艾科诺生物), a company focused on laboratory automation for molecular diagnostics, with early investment from ZhenFund.

In this episode, we'll start with Dr. Yang's entrepreneurial experience, then explore what molecular diagnostics is, its clinical significance, and how a startup identifies and responds to market demand. You'll hear: How does an electrical engineering PhD switch to life sciences? What is the biggest pain point in China's molecular diagnostics industry? How is PCR technology applied in molecular diagnostics? How do laboratory physicians conduct tests? Can the strategy of importing overseas star products still work? Is price competition a good choice in the healthcare industry?

[Guest]

Yang Xing — Founder and Chairman, Accuragen; PhD in Electrical Engineering, California Institute of Technology

[Timeline]

03:51 An electrical engineering PhD switches to life sciences: why and how

12:55 After two acquisitions, stepping into the more complex field of cell biology

17:30 Joining bioMérieux and promoting FilmArray

20:37 Molecular diagnostics and PCR technology

25:25 China still lacks awareness of the clinical significance of respiratory testing

29:46 Differences between blood routine tests and respiratory testing

32:46 "Don't guess" — building clinical understanding takes time

38:06 Common types of in vitro diagnostics

42:38 How laboratory physicians conduct tests

45:41 Technology isn't the barrier to automation — integration is

48:23 Multinationals build instruments; domestic brands build reagents

52:17 Three strategies for bringing FilmArray to clinical practice

54:42 Simply importing successful foreign products cannot meet China's unique needs

01:00:00 Controlling costs to gain competitive advantage

01:04:23 The price war model doesn't suit China's current molecular diagnostics industry

01:09:08 Molecular diagnostics and in vitro diagnostics are still emerging

[Related Materials]

Microfluidics: A technology for precisely controlling and manipulating fluids at the microscale, particularly in sub-micron structures. Advances in microfluidics are revolutionizing molecular biology methods for enzymatic assays (such as glucose and lactate analysis), DNA analysis (such as polymerase chain reaction and high-throughput sequencing), and proteomics. The fundamental concept of microfluidic biochips is to integrate detection operations, sample pretreatment, and sample preparation on a single chip.

Next Generation Sequencing (NGS): A high-throughput sequencing method that enables rapid sequencing of base pairs in DNA or RNA samples. NGS supports a broad range of applications, including gene expression profiling, chromosome counting, detection of epigenetic changes, and molecular analysis. NGS is driving and enabling the future of personalized medicine.

Chemiluminescence: A cold light emission phenomenon produced when energy released during a chemical reaction excites a luminescent substance. Compared to light absorption and fluorescence, luminescence is an extremely versatile detection method suitable for many applications. It typically offers a wide dynamic range and high sensitivity due to low background interference (autofluorescence from compounds, media, and cells). Additionally, luminescence assays are often homogeneous (no wash steps), making them easier to automate in high-throughput applications.

PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction): An in vitro amplification technique for mass replication of specific DNA fragments. It can be viewed as a special form of DNA replication outside living organisms, referring to the process where, under the catalysis of DNA polymerase and using parent-strand DNA as a template and specific primers as extension starting points, complementary daughter-strand DNA is synthesized through steps of denaturation, annealing, and extension.

CT/NG/UU: Chlamydia trachomatis (CT), Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG), and Ureaplasma urealyticum (UU) are important pathogens causing reproductive tract inflammation. CT/NG/UU infections can lead to female reproductive tract inflammation, adhesion and obstruction, necrosis of mucosal cells,停滞 of fallopian tube ciliary movement, and damage to reproductive tract mucosa, allowing immune cells to directly contact sperm and produce anti-sperm antibodies, thereby causing infertility.

MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus): A clinically common and highly virulent bacterium. Since the advent of penicillin in the 1940s, infectious diseases caused by Staphylococcus aureus have been largely controlled. However, with widespread penicillin use, some S. aureus strains developed penicillinase capable of hydrolyzing the β-lactam ring, showing resistance to penicillin. Scientists then developed a new semi-synthetic penicillin resistant to penicillinase: methicillin.

[Production]

Post-production: Keyone Studio

[Contact Us]

WeChat Official Account: ZhenFund (ID: zhenfund)

Listening platforms: Xiaoyuzhou | Apple Podcast | Ximalaya

Email: media@zhenfund.com

If you have any suggestions or expectations for the show, we welcome your comments and interactions!