Innovation and AI in China’s Biotech Sector
Angela Shen is the newest member of the ChinaTalk research team. Today, she’s breaking ground with an in-depth biopharma explainer.
On June 13, Chinese drug-research company XtalPi 晶泰科技, also known as QuantumPharm, debuted on the Hong Kong stock exchange for US$126.7 million. The AI-powered drug-discovery startup’s digital prediction algorithm and computational models helped Pfizer design Paxlovid, the world’s first FDA-approved oral COVID-19 drug — saving precious time for the drug to enter large-scale production. XtalPi is a leader in the application of AI to expedite the expensive, laborious nature of drug development, with life-saving results. Founded at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with innovation centers and industrial parks in Boston, Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, XtalPi also models the global interdependencies of the pharmaceutical value chain.
Fundamentally, biotechnology involves reading and designing new biological “code,” including DNA, RNA, proteins, and metabolites. Underlying all life on Earth, this “code” is incredibly complex; only in recent decades — with the help of new technologies such as AI — has humanity shown the potential to understand and shape these building blocks of life. With its ability to process and analyze enormous amounts of data and simulate intricate systems, AI stands out as a potentially revolutionary tool for the synthesis of biological drugs that can diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease.
