On January 24, 2024, in order to actively respond to the relevant deployment of national scientific and technological innovation during the “14th Five-Year Plan” period and promote the high-quality development of the stem cell industry, Shenzhen Beike Biotechnology Co., Ltd. led Sun Yat-sen University and Shenzhen Saidong Intelligent Manufacturing Technology Co., Ltd. The launch meeting and project unveiling ceremony of the Shenzhen Innovation and Entrepreneurship Plan’s major science and technology project “Key Technology Research and Development of Mesenchymal Stem Cell Innovative Drugs” (project number: 202323N251) jointly applied by the company was successfully held at the headquarters of Beike Biotechnology. Professor Cai Cheguo, Chief Scientist of Beike Biotech, Liang Xiao, Vice President of Beike Biotech, Dr. Liao Yan from Beike Biotech R&D Center, Associate Professor Chen Xiaoyong from the Stem Cell and Tissue Engineering Research Center of Sun Yat-sen University, Zhou Wujiao, technical researcher of Shenzhen Saidong Intelligent Manufacturing Technology Co., Ltd., Wu Xumin, technical researcher, and other project leading and participating unit leaders, project leaders, and key personnel of the project team, a total of more than ten guests attended the kick-off meeting.
The kick-off meeting began. Professor Cai Cheguo, chief scientist of Beike Biotechnology, delivered a speech at the meeting. First of all, Professor Cai congratulated the project team for winning the first place after multiple selections. The key projects of the Shenzhen Innovation and Entrepreneurship Plan have strict selection standards and technical requirements. This is the recognition of the relevant government departments for the “Key Technology Research and Development of Mesenchymal Stem Cell Innovative Drugs” project team’s early solid work and advanced technological concepts. Secondly, Professor Cai said that Sun Yat-sen University has superior basic conditions in the field of life sciences and strong teaching and research capabilities, making it a first-class university in China; Saidong Intelligent Manufacturing is a national high-tech enterprise that develops and mass-produces digital intelligent production lines for cell preparations. The cooperation between Beike Biotech and the two units has brought together cutting-edge scientific research forces and achieved deep integration of industry, academia and research. It is hoped that the project team can take advantage of the opportunities now that life sciences have entered an era of rapid development, rely on project innovation results to promote the development of the industry, and contribute to human health.
At the kick-off meeting, Dr. Liao Yan, the leader of the project, reported the project research organization to the guests, clarified the key scientific issues of the project research, and then explained in detail the overall research content, expected goals and project division of labor of the participating units, emphasizing the overall project task decomposition and schedule arrangement. This project is led by Beike Biotechnology and jointly applied by Sun Yat-sen University and Shenzhen Saidong Intelligent Manufacturing Technology Co., Ltd. The project aims to solve the bottleneck problem of standardized mass production of universal stem cell drugs, establish a standardized clinical-grade mesenchymal stem cell bank and a mesenchymal stem cell culture system and evaluation method with independent intellectual property rights, analyze the mechanism of action of innovative mesenchymal stem cell drugs, and build an innovative mesenchymal stem cell drug technology development platform, so as to produce uniform, stable, and low-cost universal stem cell drugs on a large scale.
Subsequently, under the auspices of Dr. Liao Yan, and with warm applause from the audience, expert members of the project team and guests unveiled the “Key Technology Research and Development of Innovative Mesenchymal Stem Cell Drugs” project. The project team establishment ceremony was successfully completed, which marked the official start of the project research work. All participating units will complete the project tasks in accordance with the overall project plan, high standards and strict requirements, promote the high-quality development of innovative cell drug research and development, and provide more rapid and accurate cell therapy solutions for clinical use.
