The NanoSPR chip developed by XLement's research team. [Photo/Optics Valley of China]

The administrative committee of the East Lake High-tech Development Zone, also known as Optics Valley of China (OVC), signed an agreement with XLement, a Shanghai-based company specializing in the development and manufacturing of innovative biological sensors and corresponding detection equipment products, on Nov 10. This agreement marks the firm's commitment to establishing its national headquarters in the valley.

XLement is set to invest 600 million yuan ($ 83.58 million) in its headquarters, focusing on the research, development, and production of biological sensing chips and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) molecular interaction devices. The headquarters will serve as XLement's national business management center, R&D and production center, as well as the entity for financing and future listing.

Founded in 2016, XLement's core technologies involve multidisciplinary fields such as biology, materials science, optics, and electronics. Liu Gang, founder and chairman of XLement, and a professor at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, stated that over 90 percent of the domestic SPR molecular interaction market share was held by foreign enterprises.

XLement has introduced disruptive improvements to traditional SPR technology, offering equipment functionality comparable to imported products but at significantly reduced costs, Liu added.

In the future, XLement aims to become a leading high-end life science instrument provider focused on molecular interaction devices and strives to become one of the unicorn enterprises in the valley.