Science2Startup Debuts in China, Helping Great Science Become Great Companies
Through Science2Startup, we want to help close the gap between a great idea at the bench and a fundable startup.
**RA Capital and Qiming Venture Partners co-hosted the inaugural Science2Startup China Symposium (S2S China) at Westlake University. The one-day symposium brought together around 130 participants from around the world, including academic researchers, early-stage founders, global and local investors, and leaders from the pharmaceutical industry. It showcased science from Chinese universities and research institutes and explored China's growing role in global biopharma innovation. **
The inaugural S2S China drew strong interest from researchers and early-stage founders across China's therapeutics research ecosystem, receiving 43 proposals from 11 institutions. A total of 21 semifinalists were each scored by two mentor-reviewers, and 10 biotech startup teams from seven institutions pitched at the symposium.
Founded in Boston in 2018 by RA Capital and Atlas Venture, Science2Startup helps promising scientists outside the major biotech hubs on the US East and West Coasts gain more feedback and mentorship from industry and investors. This year, Science2Startup came to China for the first time, co-hosted by RA Capital and Qiming Venture Partners.
Dr. Kan Chen, Partner and Co-Lead of Healthcare at Qiming Venture Partners, opened the symposium. He pointed to finalists from Westlake University, Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, Shanghai Ruijin Hospital, the University of Science and Technology of China and the Chinese Academy of Sciences and more as evidence that world-class science from China is increasingly ready to become companies, and described **S2S China's role as building bridges between Chinese innovation and the global biotech ecosystem. **
**"The applications we received for this first edition of S2S China were impressive, both in the quality of the science and in the ambition of the founders," said Dr. Kan Chen. "China's university labs and research institutions are producing world-class biology, and more and more of it is ready to become companies with global potential. Through Science2Startup, we want to help close the gap between a great idea at the bench and a fundable startup." **
Josh Resnick, Partner at RA Capital, delivered welcome remarks and a keynote titled "S2S China: Building an Ecosystem of Academic-Led Innovation," tracing how academic discoveries, from recombinant DNA and monoclonal antibodies to AAV gene therapy, mRNA and CAR-T, grew into entire industries.
"These academic discoveries have created platforms worth trillions of dollars," said Resnick. "But turning them into industries requires sustained translation, collaboration and patient capital."
**Resnick pointed to gaps in technology transfer, researcher incentives, the time horizons of early-stage capital and exit pathways, and highlighted S2S's role in identifying translatable science, shaping experiments for commercial relevance, connecting academia, industry and investors, and building professionally managed companies. **
Professor Yigong Shi, Founding President of Westlake University, delivered a keynote titled "Research and Translation in China: A Role for Westlake University," on China's biotech innovation landscape and the role of academic research in advancing innovation globally. He recalled that when he returned to China nearly two decades ago, many labs lacked even basic infrastructure.
"Today, China has become a powerhouse of innovation," said Shi. "What drove that transformation is people: a large pool of talent that is hardworking, eager to learn and quick to absorb new knowledge."
Shi also pointed out that Westlake University and Science2Startup were both founded in 2018. "Scientists across academia and industry are joining forces," he said. "That's why we make Science2Startup happen."
S2S China sponsors Biocytogen and Goodwin also delivered remarks, with Goodwin leading an IP strategy workshop.
**The 10 finalist teams pitched their programs at the symposium, showcasing science ranging from antibody engineering to neuroscience drug discovery: **
Interlock Therapeutics - Bobo Dang (Westlake University)
Nanobody Health Biopharmaceuticals - Zeli Zhang (Westlake University), Jian Ma (Harbin Medical University)
Miracle Bio - Yi Shi, Eva Zhang
TREG BioScience - Leo Bao
NeurASO Therapeutics - Ke Zhang (Shenzhen Bay Laboratory), Fan Lai (Yunnan University)
HeaLux Global - Zhenyu Zhang (Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine)
Westlake Omics - Tiannan Guo (Westlake University)
iBIOME Biotechnology - Zhu Shu (University of Science and Technology of China), Alex Li
Kepler Biosciences - Justin Tan (Shenzhen Bay Laboratory)
Yiweilai Biotechnology - An Zeng (Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences)
A venture capital panel titled "Global Innovation: Challenges & Opportunities of Cross-Border Collaboration in Biotech" brought together Vyas Ramanan, Venture Partner at Third Rock Ventures; Zhaoying Xu, Executive Director at Lilly Ventures; and Hu Li, Venture Partner at Eight Roads Ventures. Abigail Schmitz, Senior Associate, Corporate Development at RA Capital, moderated.
The panelists discussed how cross-border collaboration can move academic science toward patients, from spotting the most compelling opportunities at the discovery and company-formation stages to structuring arrangements between universities, founders and investors that give young companies room to grow. They also addressed how to judge whether a discovery could become a globally competitive medicine, what international partners can contribute before a company has clinical data, and how founders can weigh raising capital, co-building a company with an investor or partnering a program with an established company.
Cindy Liu, Principal at Qiming Venture Partners, closed the symposium, expressing excitement about the innovation emerging from Chinese universities and academic institutions.
"S2S China brought together representatives from research institutions, global and local funds, pharmaceutical companies, CROs and legal advisors," said Liu. **"This shows the value of ecosystem collaboration. Working together, we can accelerate the translation of cutting-edge science into preclinical assets, clinical candidates and, ultimately, approved medicines that benefit patients." **
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