On June 28, 2019, Axbio held a new product launch conference themed as “Smartness Leads to Changes” at the Courtyard by Marriott Shenzhen Bay. A number of academicians, investment institutions, industry experts and media from China and Russia’s bio-industry attended the conference and witnessed the launch of Axbio’s fourth-generation gene sequencer based on the smart biochip platform.
Figure 1: Banner of the product release conference
Figure 2: Opening speech by Dr.Igor Ivanov
Axbio COO, Dr. Igor Ivanov （PhD from University of St. Petersburg, Russia, opened the session with “It is such a delight to have friends coming from afar” in Chinese, and welcomed the guests and explained Axbio’s mission of utilizing smart biochip-based mobile sequencers to serve global health care.
Figure 3: Guest speech at the conference, Dr. Ji Shishan, Chairman of STRI
Dr Ji Shishan, Chairman of Shenzhen Tsinghua Research Institute said that Axbio accumulated multiple years of research and development efforts by international scientists, and contributed to the human health. Shenzhen Tsinghua Research Institute continuously supports Axbio’s R&D center at STRI and its transition from RD to applications.
Figure 4: Mr. Luo Fei, Chairman of Green PineGroup
Mr. Chen Yong, Managing Director ofChina Resources Innovation Fund
Mr. GuyEristoff, CEO of Tower Jazz Panasonic
Figure 4: Conference speech, Mr. Luo Fei (top), Mr. Chen Yong (middle), Mr. Guy Eristoff (below)
Mr. Luo Fei, Chairman of Green Pine Group, said that the field of scientific and technological innovation is the frontier for investment. This project gathers global scientists to cooperate and promote innovation. Green Pine strongly supports Axbio. Mr. Chen Yong, Managing Director of China Resources Innovation Fund, said that the successful introduction of the latest single-molecule gene sequencer by Axbio will greatly promote the development of precision medicine.It will continue to support and promote Axbio’s products. Mr. Guy Eristoff, CEO of Tower Jazz Panasonic said that the company’s rigorous scientific attitude and craftsmanship are bound to lead it to a successful high-tech company.
Launching Ceremony Guests:
Dr. Tian Hui, CEO of AxBio Inc.,
Dr. Igor Ivanov, COO of AxBio Inc.
Dr. Ji Shishan, Shenzhen Tsinghua Research Institute,
Dr. Andrey Lisitsa, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Director of the Russian Federal Scientific and Research Institute of Biomedical Chemistry;
Dr. Alexander Lavrov of Russian Research Centre of Medical Genetics,
Mr. Guy Eristoff, CEO of Tower Jazz Panasonic,
Mr. Luo Fei, Chairman of Green Pine Group,
Mr. Feng Jie, Vice President of Leaguer Group,
Mr. Zhao Mingkai, Executive Director of China Resources Innovation Fund,
Mr. Meng Gang, Partner of Pengrui Group,
Dr. Jin Xuecheng, Partner of Tsingyuan Venture Capital
Mr. Wang Senzi,
Dr. Xue Liang, CTO of YanengBio, and
Li Jingxiang, Executive Director of Strategic Investment Center of BGI Group.
Witnessed by representatives and friends from Shenzhen Tsinghua Research Institute, Green Pine Group, Leaguer Group, China Resources Group, Pengrui Group, and BGI Group, AXP100 gene sequencer and smart biochip chip were successfully released.
Figure 6: Dr. Tian Hui,introduces new products
After the launching ceremony, Axbio CEO Dr. Tian Hui gave a detailed introduction to the company’s new products. Dr. Tian Hui first introduced the fourth-generation sequencer AXP100, a single-molecule sequencer that does not require PCR and does not rely on optical detection, which simplifies the sequencing steps and reduces the cost of the instrument. The four-generation sequencer combines the advantages of second-generation sequencing, 2.5-generation and third-generation techniques to achieve high-accuracy, long-read, single-molecule real-time sequencing technology. The introduction of a new generation of sequencers will drive the widespread use of clinical to consumer markets to serve human health.
Witnessed by the audience, Dr.Tian Hui and the team revealed the internal structure of the AXP100 sequencer, and demonstrated the whole process of initialization, self-test, cartridge loading, biochemical reaction and electrical signal output, which aroused great interest from the guests.
Figure 7: AXP100 Gene Sequencer (left), Axbio Smart Biochip CMOS wafer (right)
In addition to the fourth-generation sequencer AXP100, Dr. Tian also introduced the smart biochip platform. In March 2019, Axbio and Tower Jazz, a global specialty fableader, developed the Microfluidics Bio-CMOS platform, a smart biochip platform, for high-throughput sequencing and molecular diagnostics.
The “nail cover”-sized smart biochip integrates 1 million sensor channels and an active microfluidic system for gene sequencing and clinical diagnosis with minimal blood or other biological samples. The product can shorten the human genome sequencing from the current 1-2 weeks to one day. Compared to the mainstream sequencers currently on the market, the Microfluidics Bio-CMOS platform offers significant advantages in terms of cost, speed and throughput.
Figure 8: Signing Ceremony ofthe Strategic Collaboration Agreements
At the product release conference, Dr. Tian Hui and Dr. Igor Ivanov signed strategic collaboration agreements with Russia IBMC Research Institute, Tower Jazz Panasonic, Suzhou Institute of Biomedical Engineering of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xbiome Inc., and Yaneng Bio, respectively.
Subsequently, Dr. Andrey Lisitsa, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Dr. Alexander Lavrov of the Russian Research Centre of Medical Genetics, gave wonderful speeches to share the potential of high-throughput and high-sensitivity smart biochips in proteomics and long-length, low-cost sequencing technologies for clinical applications.
Guest:
Andrey Lisitsa (Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences), Alexander Lavrov (the Russian Research Centre of Medical Genetics), Nikolay Sergeev (CTO of a startup), XueLiang (CTO of Yaneng Bio), Yang Haitao (Chairman of Zhuhai Biocode), LiJingxiang(Executive Director of Strategic Investment Center of BGI Group).
In the guest roundtable forum under the theme of “Microfluidic Biochip Development Status and Application Market Prospects” and “Genetic Sequencing Clinical Application Status and Future Development Trends” hosted by Dr. He Yun of Axbio, six industry experts held exciting discussion around these topics. Dr. Xue Liang, CTO of YanengBio, said that the application of microfluidic chips includes digital PCR and NGS, microbes, etc. The main advantages are reflected in the low dosage of reagents, automation, high throughput, and full closure to avoid sample contamination. There are still many applications that can be developed. It is believed that the CMOS chip of Axbio will have a very broad application scope. Mr. Li Jingxiang, Executive Director of Strategic Investment Center of BGI Group, said that sequencing in China is strictly regulated from research and development to clinical practice, and a large amount of clinical sample data needs to be accumulated. If the cost of sequencing can be greatly reduced, it will definitely lead to broader clinical applications. Dr. Yang Haitao,Chairman of Zhuhai Biocode, mentioned that microfluidics has many clinical application scenarios, and the market for POCT detection kits for different diseases is huge. Dr. Lavrov pointed out that long-length long sequencing is more suitable for the field of CNV and analysis of complex structural variations. In addition to clinical applications, the sequencing platform of Axbio can be applied to environmental, microbial and animal and plant research.
Up to now, Axbio’s smart biochips are world-leading platform and can be widely used in whole genome sequencing, targeted sequencing, RNA sequencing, epigenetics, metagenomics, etc. It can also be applied to the detection of proteins, microorganisms, and toxic compounds, and greatly improves the existing detection throughput. In the future, with the latestAXP100 gene sequencer and smart biochip technology, Axbio will unveil themystery of genetic information and provide a powerful tool for the rapid development of precision medicine.
About Axbio (安序源)
Founded in 2016, Axbio is a Silicon Valley start-up company. The company is deeply rooted in precision medicine and healthcare industry, performing research and development of core technologies, manufacturing next-generation gene sequencing and precision diagnostic equipment, and providing complete solutions for the industry. The company has R&D centers in Silicon Valley and Shenzhen Tsinghua University Research Institute. It is well funded by the leading venture capital groups.
Thecompany’s leadership consists of series entrepreneurs of Silicon Valley, executives of global corporations, senior engineers and scientists. The team has a wealth of experience in creating, managing, operating, and successfully exiting high-tech companies. The team has full coverage over all the disciplines required to develop molecular diagnostics and gene sequencing products, including integrated circuits, semiconductor, biochemistry, organic chemistry, surface physics, microfluidics, physical chemistry, big data, artificial intelligence, and etc.
