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HKIC x BioMap Strategic Partnership Agreement Signing Ceremony
Accelerate the development of bio-computing to seize the ‘first mover advantage’
Photo 1: Ms Clara Chan, CEO of HKIC (left), and Mr Wei Liu, Co-Founder and CEO of BioMap (right), sign the strategic partnership agreement, witnessed by Mr Paul Chan Mo-po, Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong SAR Government (center)
Highlights
- HKIC will proactively aggregate and channel resources to support BioMap’s development in Hong Kong.
- BioMap will launch the accelerator program "BioMap BioX", supporting over 50 cutting-edge life science early-stage R&D projects in Hong Kong over the next five years leveraging its AIGP platform built on the Life Science LLM.
(Hong Kong, June 24) The Hong Kong Investment Corporation Limited (HKIC) signed a strategic partnership agreement with BioMap, underscoring a significant commitment to transforming Hong Kong into a leading international bio-computing innovation hub. This alliance marks HKIC's second strategic partnership announced within two weeks, reflecting its significant progress in fostering Hong Kong’s innovation and technology ecosystem through strategic investments.
Following the new strategic partnership, BioMap hosted the inaugural "International Bio-Computing Innovation Summit" today, during which the strategic partnership agreement was signed. This milestone Signing Ceremony, witnessed and addressed by Mr Paul Chan Mo-po, Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong SAR Government, signals the commencement of extensive collaboration to enhance the bio-computing ecosystem in Hong Kong. The agreement was signed by Ms Clara Chan, CEO of HKIC, and Mr Wei Liu, Co-Founder and CEO of BioMap.
Mr Paul Chan, Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong SAR Government, remarked, "The combination of AI and life science is opening up a new frontier in bio-computing. Hong Kong has solid foundation in both areas, and we should endeavour to accelerate the development of bio-computing so that we could seize the ‘first mover advantage’”.
He highlighted Hong Kong’s robust ecosystem for innovation, development of AI infrastructure, convergence of both Mainland and international data, and its strengths as an international financial centre as the city’s edges for advancement in bio-computing. Emphasising the importance of the strategic partnership between HKIC and Biomap, he said, “Biomap’s InnoHub is set to become a global focal point for research in bio-computing, a hub for relevant translational research and outcome commercialisation, a platform for fostering cooperation among innovators, the industries and investors, and a base for talent development. The technologies and entrepreneurship of companies like Biomap, the R&D they will conduct, and the job they will create, will help nurture an AI-literate workforce with multidisciplinary knowledge which is vital for enhancing our competitiveness and attracting more tech companies to cluster in the city.”
Ms Clara Chan, CEO of HKIC, stated, “Artificial Intelligence (AI) falls under one of HKIC’s investment themes, namely ‘Hard & Core Technology’. By investing in BioMap, in addition to seeking reasonable return, HKIC will play its role in aggregating and channeling resources to support BioMap’s development in Hong Kong, revitalizing innovation and development in the relevant industrial chains vertically and horizontally, and contributing to Hong Kong’s economy and society. HKIC supports BioMap in establishing its bio-computing innovation center and expanding its operational scope as well as depth in Hong Kong, and facilitates the broadening of its international connections."
Mr Wei Liu, Co-Founder and CEO of BioMap, said, "We thank HKIC for its support and guidance. We intend to leverage Hong Kong’s international status, favorable financial policies, globally aligned IP and data regulations to garner greater trust from multinational clients, and maintain our competitive edge in the midst of international competition. In addition, Hong Kong has a rich pool of interdisciplinary AI and biotechnology talent, and an innovative academic environment. Our Innovation Center is anticipated to transform more unique ideas into practical AIGP* products, thereby enhancing the value of innovation through our global production, commercial network, and ecosystem partners."
(*AI Generated Protein, utilizing AI to design new proteins; further details below)Announcement of BioMap InnoHub and BioX Accelerator Program in Hong Kong
BioMap also unveiled the establishment of its first international innovation center (BioMap InnoHub) in Hong Kong, aspiring to attract global innovation forces and proactively cultivate local tech innovation teams, thereby accelerating the development of the “AI for Life Science” ecosystem in Hong Kong. Representatives from The University of Hong Kong, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong Cyberport, and Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation, attended the InnoHub launching ceremony as the ecosystem partners of BioMap.
The inaugural project of BioMap InnoHub is the "Bio-Computing Innovation Accelerator Program" (BioMap BioX). In the upcoming five years, this program aims to support over 50 early-stage research and development (R&D) projects in cutting-edge life science, with priority given to projects recommended by universities and ecosystem partners in Hong Kong. For selected projects, BioMap will leverage its Life Science Large Language Model (LLM) “xTrimo” and AIGP platform technology* to provide technical support to researchers and entrepreneurs, facilitate connections with global flagship companies and investors, and explore diverse application scenarios, thereby accelerating the transformation of R&D concepts into marketable products and industrialized entities. This initiative aims to enable life science start-ups to initiate and grow as rapidly as internet companies.
(*Further details below)Global Experts Examine Bio-Computing’s Potential in Drug Development and Green Technology
To complement the strategic cooperation with HKIC, BioMap hosted the first "International Bio-Computing Innovation Summit" in Hong Kong on the same day of the signing ceremony. The summit convened representatives from BioMap’s clients and ecosystem partners, including senior executives from multinational pharmaceutical companies Sanofi and Lilly China, green technology companies Lanzatech and Syngenta, as well as an academic expert from Rutgers University, USA, to deliver keynote speeches and participate in fireside chats on accelerating new drug development to improve human health and advancing green technology innovation for global sustainable development.
Building on the BioMap-developed foundational Life Science LLM, “xTrimo”, which encompasses 100-Billion parameters, the company launched the AIGP (AI Generated Protein) platform last year. This platform aims to provide efficient and reliable protein design and optimization solutions for life science researchers. To date, BioMap has secured contracts with over 200 users based on the AIGP platform, including international pharmaceutical companies, leading CDMOs#, innovative drug developers, synthetic biology, green technology enterprises, and research institutions.
((#Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization))Looking ahead, BioMap will anchor in Hong Kong, focus on frontier protein applications, and provide LLM technology and ecosystem empowerment to help research and industry teams achieve innovative R&D goals such as AIGP. The company will collaborate with global ecosystem partners to promote a series of innovative activities, explore the applications, trends, and challenges of Life Science LLM with decision makers from multinational pharmaceutical companies, university scholars, and AI life science entrepreneurs, to jointly build a sustainable and vibrant AI life science ecosystem.
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About HKIC
To further optimize the use of financial reserves for promoting the development of industries and the economy, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has established the HKIC to consolidated the management of the investment activities of the “Hong Kong Growth Portfolio”, “Greater Bay Area Investment Fund”, “Strategic Tech Fund”, and “Co-Investment Fund”. The objectives of the HKIC are to identify investment opportunities and strategically promote development of target industries, so as to enhance the long-term competitiveness and economic vitality of Hong Kong while generating investment return.
About BioMap
Founded in 2020, BioMap is the pioneer in Large Biology Language Models. With the world’s largest 100Bn+ parameters biology foundation model “xTrimo”, we enable our partners to build their own AI models with limited data and leverage our AI-Generated Protein (AIGP) Platform to power their R&D ambitions and design novel proteins for Pharmaceutical and Health, Green Technology, Industrial Innovation, and Consumer Upgrade. BioMap is one of the second batch of strategic enterprises that signed the agreement with the Office of Attracting Strategic Enterprises to set up business in Hong Kong.