The unveiling ceremony for the new biotechnology company on Sept 12. [Photo/WeChat account of Optics Valley of China]

A new biotechnology company jointly founded by Wuhan Sunhy Biology Co and Academician Yao Bin's research team of the Institute of Animal Science (IAS) of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) was unveiled on Sept 12, signaling a new cooperation model between private companies and academicians.

The Wuhan National Bio-industry Base, also known as the Biolake of the East Lake High-tech Development Zone (Optics Valley of China, or OVC), signed collaboration agreements with both Wuhan Sunhy Biology Co and the institute, pledging to make advances in science and technology and commercialize them at the Biolake.

The new company will focus on the deep integration of technology and industrialization in areas such as functional protein gene resource exploration, protein structure molecular improvement, efficient expression mechanism research, and the application of bioactive substances, providing systematic solutions for improving the quality and efficiency of agriculture and animal husbandry. The products can also be extended to the food and pharmaceutical sectors.

Researchers at the Wuhan Sunhy Biology Co. [Photo/WeChat account of Optics Valley of China]

The bio-manufacturing industry is a strategic emerging industry in China. More than 3,000 types of enzymes have been discovered worldwide, but only about 60 have been produced on a large scale. The global market for enzyme preparations is growing at an average annual rate of 11 percent, indicating broad development prospects for the industry.

Academician Yao Bin's research team has long been committed to research on feed and industrial enzymes, as well as bioactive preparations for animal husbandry. They have established a complete and efficient research and development system for feed enzymes and have successfully developed various world-leading enzyme preparations and functional proteins.

The academician's project will further improve OVC's top talent chain in the field of functional proteins and enhance the international influence and competitiveness of the Biolake in feed enzyme preparations.