Entering Fudan-affiliated Startups | Novoprotein: Driving Innovation in Life Sciences Industry through Protein Technologies and Tools

Column Introduction

The "Entering Fudan-affiliated Startups" column aims to showcase the efforts and achievements of Fudan scientists and alumni in the field of scientific and technological innovation. By inviting founders, executives, or chief technology officers of alumni-led innovation enterprises from various industries, the column provides a platform for sharing their entrepreneurial journeys, technological breakthroughs, and industry insights. This initiative brings the spirit of Fudan's innovation to life, fostering synergy between the university's innovation atmosphere and alumni enterprises. It also serves as a creative reference for technology commercialization and builds a supportive ecosystem for innovative enterprises.

01. Zhu Huaxing: An Entrepreneur Cultivated by Fudan's Research System

Dr. Zhu Huaxing, founder and chairman of Novoprotein, is an alumnus of Fudan University's School of Life Sciences, holding a master's, doctoral degree, and serving as a part-time professor. This highlights his deep connection to Fudan. After graduating with a master's degree from Fudan in 1996, Dr. Zhu entered the industry and was involved in the research and production of three macromolecular drugs. With the early 21st century marking the decoding of the human genome's genetic code, Dr. Zhu recognized the significant development opportunities in life sciences and the critical importance of translating these advancements into industrial applications. This prompted him to return to Fudan University to pursue a doctoral degree in developmental biology. During his doctoral studies, Dr. Zhu, drawing from his professional experience, continually thought about how to bridge basic research and the industrial demands of life sciences. "Proteins are the fundamental entities of life activities and core tools in various application areas of the life sciences industry." This insight, based on his own research background and industry considerations, led to the creation of Novoprotein.

In 2005, Dr. Zhu began his entrepreneurial journey. "For entrepreneurship, it is not just the knowledge from books; the ecosystem is even more important." After graduating from Fudan, Dr. Zhu continued to stay closely connected with the academic and alumni circles of Fudan's School of Life Sciences. "On one hand, this is a way to give back to the school for the ten years of nurturing; on the other hand, it relies on Fudan's ecosystem to foster an entrepreneurial atmosphere." Dr. Zhu has organized the School of Life Sciences alumni's annual entrepreneurial meeting for ten years, providing a platform for alumni to exchange ideas and build a strong entrepreneurial ecosystem. "Through this platform, I exchange experiences with professors, continuously iterating knowledge and information. It is a process of mutual learning." Dr. Zhu's entrepreneurial journey was not a solitary endeavor—communication with fellow entrepreneurs, sharing ideas, and emotional connections have all been positive driving forces.

When discussing the fundamental issue of transitioning between the roles of a scientist and an entrepreneur, Dr. Zhu believes that the underlying logic of both roles is inherently the same, involving a process of proposing questions, hypotheses, and verification through continuous iteration. "Just as scientists need a research question, entrepreneurs need a business proposition. The operation of a company revolves around setting and planning this proposition." However, sometimes scientists can become overly confident in their understanding. Dr. Zhu believes that entrepreneurs need to maintain both humility and confidence in their approach to the market and in exploring principles in order to find the right solutions and create commercially valuable products. "We must humbly recognize that all assumptions may not align with reality. At the same time, we must have enough confidence to move forward, as confidence comes from having faith in our own rigorous scientific logic and thinking." Therefore, the challenge lies in maintaining confidence when humility is needed, and humility when confidence is required.

Under Dr. Zhu's leadership, Novoprotein has upheld the core company culture of "humble confidence, learning, and innovation." The company has continuously explored and adapted its technological path and product planning to meet market needs, ultimately focusing on recombinant protein technology and recombinant protein application solutions. Novoprotein has also consistently optimized and iterated its technological platform, becoming a leading upstream supplier of raw materials and technical solutions in the fields of healthcare and life sciences in China. In September 2022, Novoprotein officially listed on the Sci-Tech Innovation Board, becoming China's "first stock in mRNA raw material enzymes."

Dr. Zhu Huaxing, Founder and Chairman of Novoprotein
Alumnus of Fudan University's School of Life Sciences

02. Driving Downstream Innovation with Protein Tools at the Core

In Dr. Zhu's view, the application value of protein tools in the life and health industry is unquestionable. "Tools have tremendous leverage value. For example, during the gold rush, we could sell shovels, but we could also drive the continuous innovation and iteration of gold mining tools. When we eventually invent an excavator to replace the shovel, this innovative tool will significantly improve the productivity of the entire industry." Therefore, innovation in tools is the key to driving downstream industry transformation. "Through downstream commercialization, we can amplify the value of the tools, thereby changing the production efficiency across the entire industry chain."

During his time at Fudan, Dr. Zhu realized the significant gap in China's life science innovations from the laboratory to practical application. "Whether in healthcare or other sectors, whenever it involves related targets and diagnostic methods, we encounter this issue." From his doctoral studies to entrepreneurship, he has been dedicated to exploring how to solve this gap in industry application. Once the problem was clearly identified, the solution became apparent: protein technologies and tools. "We need to solve the industrialization issue, and proteins are an extremely important tool and goal. This is why it became a central focus of our entrepreneurial journey." Based on this deep understanding, Novoprotein has become a driving force in advancing downstream industries through protein application technologies.

After accumulating protein technologies and tools, the next challenge is how to quickly respond to the ever-changing needs of downstream application scenarios. For Novoprotein, the key lies in collaborative innovation with customers. With more than a decade of experience, Novoprotein now boasts a relatively mature protein application technology platform, where the synergistic use of tools and downstream applications can maximize their value. "In order to solve the problems and needs our clients face, we aim to provide a complete set of solutions so that these protein application technologies can be integrated and applied together to create better solutions." Currently, Novoprotein is working to transition from designing individual protein tools to forming comprehensive protein tool integration solutions. By closely collaborating with customers, they explore and achieve the synergistic use of tools to precisely identify and address the underlying issues of their needs. "From the perspective of industry division, the core value we offer to our downstream clients is to help solve their problems and provide clear pathways to solutions. Sometimes, clients may present a path they believe solves their problems, but we need to combine Novoprotein's understanding of tools to identify the real need. Often, the solutions we provide offer clients a completely new, more optimal path." Novoprotein is able to address the essence of its clients' issues with precision, thanks to its deep understanding of its own research tools and technologies.

03. Dual Drivers of Scale and Innovation: Reshaping the Competitive Landscape

In recent years, competition in the recombinant protein industry has intensified, and its market size is continually expanding worldwide. To stand out in this competitive environment, companies must possess strong innovation and R&D capabilities, high-quality products, and excellent services. "A company's competitiveness is a comprehensive result. Our years of technical accumulation and multi-platform collaboration have created a scale effect, which is a significant advantage for Novoprotein." From innovative protein platforms such as computer design and molecular evolution, to protein production, manufacturing, and quality control, Novoprotein has achieved an advanced level and established a complete protein tool library. Additionally, "Novoprotein has a core advantage in its series of application technology platforms used to evaluate, test, and simulate customer applications." As a result, Novoprotein collaborates with clients from the same perspective to define and analyze their needs, gaining a deeper understanding of industry development.

Another advantage is Novoprotein's unique innovation philosophy. Dr. Zhu Huaxing understands that the applications of recombinant proteins are vast, extending beyond drug development to include basic life science research, in vitro diagnostics, and the development and production of new vaccines. This requires companies to constantly innovate technically and respond quickly to changes in market demand. "Many people talk about innovation, but often as a commercial slogan. Novoprotein takes innovation as a top priority, embedding an innovative mindset into every employee's work philosophy and the company's cultural atmosphere." Novoprotein's innovation is not just about creating differentiated products, but also about forming its own innovation logic—how to better define problems, combine tools, and integrate various resources to efficiently solve challenges. "The company's innovation capability lies in integrating structural knowledge, computational knowledge, and various technical capabilities related to proteins. By combining knowledge from diverse fields such as proteins, RNA, virology, antibodies, and vaccines, and using knowledge transfer to redefine problems and solutions, we innovate. For example, applying vaccine technology to solve antibody drug discovery challenges. The industry doesn't lack technical capabilities; it lacks an innovative attitude." Novoprotein has made significant breakthroughs in research on membrane proteins and continues to innovate in areas such as cytokines, recombinant antibodies, recombinant antigens, enzymes and reagents, and mRNA vaccine raw materials. This not only reflects the depth of its technical platform but also underscores its proactive attitude towards product innovation.

Dr. Zhu firmly believes that innovation capability is crucial for the stage-wise reshaping of the life and health industry in the current environment and is the core element for companies facing the future. "A few years ago, only a handful of people considered innovation to be a core competitive advantage. However, with recent changes in the economic landscape, we are pleased to see that the value of innovation has gained more attention, benefiting an increasing number of companies. Many domestic innovative drugs are now going global and gaining international recognition, which serves as proof of China's innovation. The Chinese are diligent and hardworking, and I believe that as long as we are truly committed to practicing innovation, we will gain industry recognition and global acknowledgment."

04. Leading Chinese Technological Breakthroughs to Reduce Import Dependency

Novoprotein's innovative philosophy has played a key role in enhancing China’s independent R&D capabilities in the life sciences sector. As domestic fields like biopharmaceuticals, gene and cell therapy, in vitro diagnostics, and mRNA vaccine development rapidly grow, domestic recombinant proteins and biological research reagents are gaining market competitiveness through advantages in pricing, supply chain, and services. This has gradually broken the dominance of imported products, fostering a trend of import substitution. Currently, Novoprotein holds a leading position in the domestic market for mRNA raw material enzymes, with advanced scaling capabilities for mRNA enzyme production. Their product quality meets international standards, and they have developed several globally innovative patent technologies in mRNA quality analysis and manufacturing.

"China's position in global life sciences is rising, and the shift from imports to domestic alternatives is a major trend in the industry," Dr. Zhu Huaxing comments on solving the issue of import dependency, expressing strong optimism about the competitiveness of domestic products. "The overall improvement in education levels and the increased degree of internationalization, bringing innovation in information and thinking, are top-level drivers accelerating the development of life sciences." Novoprotein encourages young talent to join, fostering an environment where diverse ideas can merge and spark innovation, bridging information gaps and addressing weaknesses in thinking logic and technical innovation.

Beyond strengthening core capabilities and paving the way for domestic alternatives, it is crucial to return to a deep understanding of the actual problems and needs within the industry. This is a point Dr. Zhu emphasizes repeatedly—the innovative demands of industry applications. "We should face the industry's needs with a more grounded and sincere attitude, adapting to the local context. What are the real downstream demands? How do we address their underlying issues?" For example, Novoprotein was one of the earliest companies globally to promote GMP-grade cytokines and mRNA raw material enzymes, completing a full set of raw materials compliant with GMP and regulatory systems, successfully supporting over ten companies in completing filings in both China and the U.S. In the actual raw material production process, Dr. Zhu has focused on finding the optimal solutions for domestic products to meet industry needs, considering factors like product performance, technological levels, and quality control.

05. Technological Innovation Empowers the Expansion of New Industry Frontiers

"Advances in fields such as NGS (Next-Generation Sequencing), bioinformatics, gene editing, and AI have opened up unprecedented space for the development of life sciences and enhanced our ability to solve complex problems. The development of any industry is based on the integrated application of its technological advancements," says Dr. Zhu Huaxing. He believes that Novoprotein will always be an open and inclusive platform, aiming to collaborate with various industries to drive mutual growth. "Firstly, we focus on the integration of life sciences and AI." AI is showing tremendous potential in areas like protein design, genomics, drug discovery, and vaccine design. By leveraging deep learning models, researchers can optimize protein performance, study protein functions, and regulate biological processes such as protein networks. Machine learning and data mining technologies can rapidly screen for potential drug molecules, predict drug targets, and optimize drug molecule designs.

"Secondly, we are focused on synthetic biology and enzymes. Proteins are a key module in synthetic biology." In-depth exploration of protein computational design, protein expression efficiency, and metabolic synthesis networks are major research methods in synthetic biology.

Only through tight collaboration and integration of knowledge across the entire value chain can we create new growth points. On the critical issue of promoting industrial development, Dr. Zhu and the Fudan University Science and Innovation Fund share a high level of consensus. Both parties agree that the fusion of technologies across different industries and collaborative partnerships are crucial sources of innovative thinking. Dr. Zhu expressed his optimism for the future, hoping that through the platform of the Innovation Fund, the cooperation between companies can be further promoted, unlocking new business opportunities and achieving mutual benefits. This cross-disciplinary cooperation model will not only stimulate new ideas but also bring broader market prospects and more diversified resource allocations to all involved.

As inscribed on the monument Dr. Zhu Huaxing gifted to Fudan University in 2016, a quote from the Tao Te Ching sums up this philosophy: (“天物芸芸，各复其根”)“Heaven and earth are vast, yet all things return to their root.” Despite the complexity and diversity of the world, everything ultimately returns to its origin. The Fudan Science and Innovation ecosystem will serve as a fountain of wisdom and resources for alumni, a platform that fosters innovation, communication, and cooperation. Here, we not only trace the origins of knowledge but also continuously explore and practice new ideas and creations. This ecosystem will become a bridge connecting the past with the future, theory with practice, where every alumnus can find their place and contribute to societal progress and development.