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“Recently, I’ve been traveling all over the world. There are still three exhibitions to prepare for in September. I’m so busy that I’m almost ‘flying’.” ” Dr. He Wei, the founder of Zewei Biotech, smiled.
Not long ago, He Wei led his team to Philadelphia, USA to attend the Immuno-Oncology Summit, a global summit on tumor immunology. At the event where representatives from top international pharmaceutical companies, biotech firms and research institutions gathered, he took the stage as an industry representative to deliver a speech. Throughout the summit, his team received cooperation and connection invitations from over 20 institutions, including industry giants such as Johnson & Johnson and Merck Group, as well as pioneering biotech enterprises in the development of innovative drugs.
A start-up company has drawn the attention of the entire audience, and behind this is a demonstration of its strong technological capabilities. Looking back at the beginning of his entrepreneurial journey, He Wei admitted that his decision to start a business in the new district was mainly due to a phone call from an old classmate.
01 Two doctors, a powerful alliance
Before entering Zewei Biotech, let’s first get to know the two core figures of the company – the founder He Wei and the co-founder Li Xingnan.
After graduating from Peking University with a major in Biological Sciences, He Wei went to the United States to pursue a doctoral degree. In 2014, when all his classmates around him chose to continue their academic pursuits at universities, He Wei turned down the offer from Stanford University and instead joined the pharmaceutical giant Novartis as a postdoctoral fellow.
“Working as a postdoctoral fellow in the industrial sector is a unique experience, allowing one to conduct research and development as well as drug molecule transformation simultaneously in a real drug research and development environment.” ” He Wei explained his choice at that time. At Novartis, he focused on new drug research and development as well as functional genomics technology, accumulating a wealth of experience.
Meanwhile, Li Xingnan is conducting research in the field of organoids at Stanford University. She was the first in the industry to prepare tumor organoids through the integrated gas-liquid culture (ALI) method, reproducing the tumor immune microenvironment of patients. The related achievements have been published in top international journals such as Nature Medicine and Cell, making her one of the pioneers in the global organoid research field.
The two scientists, respectively running at the forefront of the industry and on the front line of scientific research, have both witnessed the limitations of the traditional drug development model in their respective fields. We all realize that future drug development requires a model system that is closer to the real state of the human body. This is the inevitable path for the development of innovative drugs. He Wei said.
It was not until 2019 that these two parallel lines began to intersect. At that time, He Wei returned to China to start his own business and needed a professional venue to run data. By chance, he met Li Xingnan and “borrowed” her laboratory to conduct research.
During one work session, the two exchanged their respective technical skills. One is functional genomics and the other is organoid models. If the two are combined to build a drug development platform, it will not only increase the success rate of drug screening but also make the evaluation of drug efficacy more accurate.
In fact, our concept resonance can be traced back to 15 years ago when I was still at Novartis and Li Bo was still at Stanford. But after actually meeting and having a detailed talk, my train of thought suddenly “opened up”. He Wei recalled that he immediately invited Li Xingnan to “form a team” and establish Zewei Biology. From then on, the story of “strong alliances” began to be written.
02 Cultivate “mini tumors” to accelerate drug development
With the idea in place, where should the enterprise be located?
While hesitating, He Wei received a call from Dr. MAO Wen, his college classmate. At that time, MAO Wen founded Nuoling Biology in the new district. She told He Wei that the industrial ecosystem in the new district was good and the support was also very in place, making it very suitable for the development of hard-tech start-ups.
Under MAO Wen’s introduction, He Wei came to the new district. Here, there is a platform where you can “move in with just a suitcase”, which greatly saves the initial investment of enterprises. Not long after, the new district enterprise, Yaoshi Technology, also sent a cooperation invitation. It only took half a year for the team and business lines to get all “running”.
Nowadays, Zewei Biotech has established its own core technology platform in the new district. Its organoid 2.0 tumor immunity platform is a clever fusion of the core technologies of the two founders
Imagine that we extract a few tumor cells from a cancer patient and cultivate a “mini tumor” in the laboratory; Combined with functional genomics technology, it is possible to test the efficacy, identify targets and analyze the mechanism of action of some innovative drugs under development through “mini tumors”…
We have also broken through the limitations of traditional organoid technology. He Wei introduced that the team’s organoid 2.0 technology can preserve stromal cells, immune cells and spatial tissue structures in tumor tissues in an in vitro environment, and reconstruct complex microenvironments.
It should be known that a tumor is not a uniform piece of “meat”, but a dynamic and complex ecosystem. If there could be a three-dimensional model close to its original state, drug development could save a great deal of time and cost and obtain more accurate data.
He Wei “proudly” told us that this was precisely the technical highlight of the Zewei team. “The shape of the patient’s tumor is exactly the shape of the ‘mini tumor’ we cultivate.” He said.
Now is the best time for the rapid development of our technology. Li Xingnan added, “The FDA is actively encouraging the application of New NAM (new Approach Methodologies) models, which can reduce animal experiments and improve the efficiency and accuracy of drug development. Our organoid 2.0 technology is precisely the leading solution in this trend.
With such technological “hard power”, Zewei Biotech has carved out a niche for itself. At present, the team has established over 1,500 human tumor organoid models, covering common cancer types such as liver cancer, colorectal cancer, lung cancer, and hemangioblastoma, which are widely used in drug screening and immunotherapy evaluation, serving many of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies.
He Wei gave an example, saying that in the future, through the company’s technology platform, doctors can establish a personalized “mini tumor” model for each patient, test the effects of various drug combinations, find the most suitable treatment plan, and at the same time provide the most genuine and effective screening platform for new drug research and development, thereby customizing and developing the most effective new drug molecules.
Beyond technical services, the Zewei team is also striving to forge its own path. According to He Wei, the team has discovered two new targets and three new drug pipelines are in progress. Just as he initially thought when he turned down his Stanford offer and joined Novartis, he hopes to continue using his strengths to promote more innovative achievements to be transformed into clinical applications, benefiting more patients.
Our ultimate goal is to enable every patient to receive personalized and precise treatment plans, and through our precise “Mini Tumor” underlying platform, to tailor and develop the most effective new drug molecules for cancer patients. When talking about the company’s long-term vision, He Wei had a clear goal and said so.
In the interview, He Wei told us that this September, the company received invitations to three exhibitions, and in October, there are still two more exhibitions to attend. Not only has it frequently made appearances on the international stage, but its overall revenue has also “doubled”. There are still many new collaborations in progress. He Wei smiled and said that he had also found like-minded partners in the new district and was currently communicating and coordinating with an organ-on-a-chip team.
We should not only be pioneers in technology, but also participate in the industry transformation that drives drug development. He Wei and Li Xingnan said in unison, “This is a question we began to think about 15 years ago, and now we finally have the opportunity to turn it into reality.”
On one side is a rapidly growing company, and on the other is an expanding “circle of friends”. With core technologies in hand, this team will continue to go further with innovation and perseverance.
