Gastrointestinal diseases are a global health problem, and traditional diagnosis can only rely on invasive examinations such as gastroscopy and colonoscopy. Now in Shenzhen, a company has independently developed REG1A (human regenerated islet-derived protein 1α) serum reagent, which only needs to draw a small amount of venous blood from the patient, and according to the test results of the reagent, it can accurately determine whether it is necessary to undergo gastrointestinal endoscopy. This non-invasive and convenient detection method can effectively screen out high-risk groups who really need to undergo digestive endoscopy, and explore a new way for the early diagnosis of gastrointestinal diseases.
A small reagent, condensing the team's years of hard work. "In the past 8 years, we have always adhered to independent innovation and are committed to providing efficient and reliable new serum marker detection methods for the digestive system for clinical practice. The REG1A serum reagent launched this time is the world's first, and has obtained the medical device registration certificate issued by the Guangdong Provincial Drug Administration, and now we are in full swing to accelerate the product launch. Guo Jian, founder and chief scientist of Shenzhen Shengbo Life Science Technology Co., Ltd., said.
"You've come to the right place!" ——Shenzhen is the first choice for biomedical entrepreneurship
Guo Jian is a returnee entrepreneur who entered Harbin Medical University in the late 80s of the last century, and after graduating with a master's degree, he went overseas for further study and became a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University and Duke University in the United States, researching molecular biology and human genomics. With his study and work experience in multiple disciplines, he gradually found his own research and development direction: by finding a serum marker with both specificity and sensitivity, he can innovate and develop convenient, non-invasive, and accurate diagnostic methods for gastrointestinal diseases.
In 2017, Guo Jian, who is also a senior researcher at the University of Toronto, Canada, was invited by relevant departments of Shenzhen to participate in the first international competition of the China Shenzhen Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, and the project won the first place in the Canadian division. Shenzhen's good innovation and entrepreneurship environment and the government's full sincerity deeply moved Guo Jian, so he resolutely chose to return to China to start a business, and settled the company in Pingshan National Biomedical Innovation Industrial Park, starting the road of innovation.
In Guo Jian's view, starting a business in Shenzhen is "the right time, place and people", "Shenzhen and Pingshan have laid out the biomedical industry very early, forming a strong industrial agglomeration effect, and at the same time, they have given all-round support in terms of factory rent, corporate credit, talent support, etc. Biopharmaceutical companies have extremely high standards for the design and construction of clean plants, and we visited many places in China at that time, and finally found a satisfactory site in Pingshan, Shenzhen. It can be said that we have come to the right place, and this is a fertile ground for biopharmaceutical companies to flourish. ”
"Have faith!" -- The hand of policy "lifts" the dream of innovation
The road to entrepreneurship has not been smooth sailing, Guo Jian and his team have also experienced difficulties and obstacles, and also tasted the bitterness of the failure of the first product development. But fortunately, with the support of the government and the help of financial institutions, they were able to continue to devote themselves to research and development without distraction, and the REG1A serum reagent was successfully launched.
Biopharmaceutical enterprises are generally faced with the problems of long R&D cycle, high capital investment, and slow returns, and their development and growth are inseparable from the strong support of finance. In 2019, Shenzhen and Pingshan District introduced relevant policies to support the financing of technology-based SMEs, allowing more financial resources to converge in the field of science and technology. "At that time, in this conference room, a bank listened to our project report and boldly provided us with a credit loan of 20 million yuan, which was like a timely rain, which made us strengthen our confidence in development and successfully passed the most difficult period." Guo Jian told reporters with a smile.
Today, Guo Jian is full of confidence in the company's future development. "I will always take root in Shenzhen and run the enterprise well. I have successfully passed the application for Chinese nationality, and I have also decided to give up my Canadian citizenship, hoping to lead the company to contribute to the health of the domestic people. ”