Professor Tan Participated in the 2016 "Dialogue on Zhangjiang" All Media Interview

Focusing on the hot spots of science and innovation, discussing the development path together

The year 2016 is the opening year of the 13th Five-Year Plan. To further implement the new requirements of the central government on accelerating the construction of Shanghai as a scientific and technological innovation center with global influence, and to fully demonstrate the exemplary role of Zhangjiang in opening up innovation and piloting, the all-media large-scale interview activity "Dialogue on Zhangjiang", co-organized by Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-tech Zone Management Committee, China Economic Information Service, Xinhua News, and Shanghai Securities News and co-hosted by HDFC Bank Shanghai Branch, was officially launched on July 12, 2016. " was officially launched on July 12, 2016. The interviews are expected to be held 30 times and last 4 months, with media support provided by Xinhua News Agency client, Oriental Network, First Financial Channel, Oriental Finance-Pudong Channel, Oriental Broadcasting Center and First Financial Radio, and senior journalists from Xinhua News Agency and hosts from Shanghai Radio directly conversing with the management committee of Zhangjiang Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone, some parks and relevant persons in charge of key science and innovation-oriented enterprises, fully exploring the outstanding Zhangjiang The media support of Xinhua News Agency and Shanghai Radio hosts directly talked to the management committee of Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone, some of the park and the relevant persons in charge of key science and technology-based enterprises to fully explore the innovative achievements and brand characteristics of Zhangjiang's outstanding enterprises, and strive to enhance the brand awareness and influence of enterprises.

On October 20, 2016, the twenty-fifth "Dialogue on Zhangjiang" media interview was held with Professor Tan Wensong (center), Chairman of Shanghai BioEngine Sci-Tech Co., LTD.

The full text is reproduced below.

Shanghai BioEngine Sci-Tech: Carrying the Flag of Scientific and Technological Achievement Transformation and Being the Engine of Vaccine Antibody Industry

A company with an initial registered capital of only 1 million yuan is determined to provide the impetus for upgrading the production technology of the entire vaccine antibody industry. When participating in the "Dialogue with Zhangjiang" media interview on the 20th, Tan Wenzong, the chairman of BioEngine, said that the enterprise's pilot plant with an investment of 70 million RMB has been completed and is steadily moving towards being the engine of the vaccine antibody industry.

To understand BioEngine's dream of being the "engine" of vaccine antibodies, we have to start from the industry in which the company is located. According to Tan, BioEngine is mainly engaged in the research of large-scale culture technology for animal cells. "Cell culture requires culture medium, just like human beings eat food and vegetables. Dissolve substances including glucose and amino acids in water into a culture medium, and cells are raised in it to produce virus vaccines and antibody drugs for treating diseases."

It sounds easy, but it's hard to do. Laymen may not know that the production process of human and poultry virus vaccines commonly used in China is still quite backward, either using chicken embryos in eggs or primary cells such as gopher kidneys, which are often only cultured in rolled bottles, in addition to adding bovine serum as a nutrient solution.

In traditional bird flu vaccine plants, tens of millions of fresh eggs are wasted during production, and these "toxic" eggs must be incinerated to avoid contamination. The new process of industrial production of avian influenza vaccine based on serum-free single-cell suspension culture, which was pioneered by Bechtelsky internationally, has been successfully applied in domestic animal vaccine production enterprises on a scale of 1,000 upgrades, and the economic and social benefits have been greatly improved.

"At present, the key raw materials such as serum-free protein-free culture medium and microcarriers that support the development of China's antibody and vaccine industries, as well as key equipment such as bioreactors, are still highly dependent on imports, which has become the biggest bottleneck for industrial development. With the support of special funds from Zhangjiang, Bechtelji has built a personalized serum-free medium pilot production system at the advanced international level, which can provide technical services and process development for 5-8 antibody vaccine companies at the same time." Tan Wensong revealed.

The ability to achieve such a breakthrough in a relatively short period is due to the accumulation of scientific research over the past 30 years. The core research and development team of BioEngine comes from East China University of Science and Technology. When the company was established in 2014, it was jointly funded by Tan's team and East China University of Science and Technology Asset Management Co. Ltd. Among them, Tan Wensong's team holds 70% of the shares, accounting for the majority. Such a shareholding structure has undoubtedly greatly stimulated the innovative energy of the enterprise.

According to the "Science and Technology Innovation Article 22" in 2015, the proportion of income from the transformation of scientific and technological achievements of universities and research institutes attributable to the R&D team shall not be less than 70%. From this point of view, Bechtel and East China University of Science and Technology are at the forefront of the reform and play an exemplary role in transforming scientific and technological achievements in universities.

As the chairman of BioEngine and also the director of Zhangjiang Institute of Modern Biotechnology of East China University of Science and Technology, Tan Wensong has become more comfortable with the two identities in practice. "University professors run companies, the national policy is encouraged, but to meet the norms. The university's audit approved the establishment of BioEngine. The graduate students we bring, together with the employees of the company for technical research, do everything in a real-world state and are very sought after in the job market. We can say that it is a multi-win thing."

Source: Xinhua Shanghai, Oct. 21

Reporter: He Xinrong