Original source: Zhang Tong She, September 19, 2024
Website: zhangtongshe.com
Recently, WIJ Healthcare (Shanghai) Ltd., located in Shanghai's Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park, celebrated its first anniversary. Established in September last year at the Zhangjiang Incubator, WIJ Healthcare has utilized advanced synthetic biology to innovate by applying food-grade materials to cosmetics, achieving independent R&D (Research and Development) of multiple new ingredients and products within just one year. This strategy has paved a differentiated path in innovation.
Originating in the United States, synthetic biology primarily focuses on gene sequencing, editing, and synthesis research. With continual technological advancements, synthetic biology has witnessed rapid global growth. Reports show that the synthetic biology market has expanded from $5.3 billion in 2018 to over $17 billion in 2023, and is projected to approach $50 billion by 2028.
WIJ Healthcare has targeted the synthetic biology field since its inception, focusing on anti-aging and antioxidant products for the cosmetic, food, and pharmaceutical sectors. Currently, WIJ Healthcare has introduced several new products, including PptRepair, PureStarTM , and ORCHID HEART, and is determined to become a unicorn in synthetic biology in China and a global multinational enterprise.
As an innovative tech startup, what entrepreneurial background, goals, and vision does WIJ Healthcare hold? Recently, Zhang Tong She visited WIJ Healthcare’s office at 800 Naxian Road in Zhangjiang for an in-depth interview with the founder and CEO, Helen Li (Na Li), to hear her entrepreneurial journey of "exploration, innovation, flexibility, and diversity."
01
The Unyielding Rose: A Courageous Innovator at the Helm
Wearing fine-rimmed glasses, speaking in quick bursts, and peppering her speech with English terms—this is Helen Li, the founder & CEO of WIJ Healthcare. With a master degree from the University of Technology Sydney and experience at state-owned enterprises and multinational companies, she may appear gentle on the outside, but she embodies courage, resilience, and a flair for innovation as an entrepreneurial woman of the 1980s generation, boldly venturing into new fields.
“My past ‘rough-and-tumble’ work experiences built the foundation for my career today!” As she reflects on her entrepreneurial background, Helen’s face lights up, expressing fondness for past experiences and a hopeful vision for the future.
After graduating in 2003 with a degree in Business Administration, she started her career in business development at a state-owned enterprise. Two years later, she was recruited to a French company as a business supervisor. Although she was excelling there, in 2010, she made the bold decision to leave her job and pursue a Master’s in Accounting at the University of Technology Sydney. After obtaining her Australian residency three years later, she chose to return to China to contribute to her homeland. Helen subsequently held key roles at Bayer MaterialScience, Honeywell Advanced Materials, Wuxi Bio Group, and Vela Vigo, where she oversaw operations, gaining firsthand experience in the journey from startup to unicorn status.
In her previous 18 years of work, Helen, tough and resilient on the inside, took on various roles across multiple industries: from marketing to business supervisor, contract manager to project management consultant, global operations manager to senior management. This broad exposure molded her into a multi-talented professional with extensive practical experience, ultimately leading her to a second entrepreneurial pursuit—founding her own company.
Why did she choose to focus on synthetic biology? Developing raw material innovations has always been part of Helen’s “Chinese Dream.” During the early days of her business, she happened to read a book about synthetic biology, and with her interdisciplinary background in biology, engineering, and information science, she had a flash of inspiration: why not apply synthetic biology to cosmetics? Utilizing bio-synthesis technology to create ingredients for food and cosmetics, fostering beauty and well-being for all, is precisely the career she wished to pursue. Without hesitation, she got to work! She quickly reached out to classmates and friends, assembling a team of like-minded and talented partners to embark on her entrepreneurial journey.
In product R&D, Dr. Li Zhu, co-founder, is a graduate of the Shanghai Institute of Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, with extensive experience in microbial synthesis and metabolic engineering of natural products. Her expertise includes platform development, project management, team leadership, and translating technical achievements into tangible results. Known for her skills in analyzing and reconfiguring synthetic pathways of natural products, she has established highly efficient cell-based production platforms for several products that have been transitioned to companies for economic gain. In recent years, Dr. Zhu has focused on developing genetically engineered live bacterial drugs and consumer products using synthetic biology techniques, with multiple projects currently in pre-clinical stages. R&D advisor Professor Chun Cui, a doctoral advisor at South China University of Technology, has won the National Science and Technology Progress Award (Second Prize). In market expansion, international business advisor Pieter Pelser, an alumnus of the University of Technology Sydney, brings extensive luxury client resources in Europe. United in vision, Helen and her expert team work together, innovating and pushing forward to bring their dreams to fruition.
In terms of management, WIJ Healthcare has its own methodology. Beyond encouraging innovation and fostering creativity in day-to-day management, Helen places importance on motivating the team through corporate culture. “Innovation in synthesis, benefiting the world” is WIJ Healthcare’s mission, and Helen believes in working alongside like-minded people to accomplish meaningful work. “As we work together, we embed corporate culture into the team’s DNA,” she says.
As for the name WIJ Healthcare, Helen shares that it was inspired by Whistler, a scenic spot in Canada. Translating it phonetically into “惠思乐” (WIJ) in Chinese and naming it WIJ Healthcare (Shanghai) Ltd. in English, the name represents wisdom, diligence, and happiness. She hopes the company’s products will bring joy to people and benefit humanity.
02
Breaking the Monopoly on Raw Materials, Driving Laboratory Products to Market
Currently, the U.S. dominates the synthetic biology field, especially in raw materials, holding a significant share of the global market. While Chinese companies have achieved milestones in specific areas, breaking foreign technical monopolies remains a formidable challenge.
Amidst this competitive landscape, Helen Li notes, “My motivation for innovation and R&D stems from wanting to break the monopoly on foreign raw materials. I am committed to advancing technological innovation, firmly believing we must control core technologies domestically, allowing 'created in China' and 'made in China' products to expand worldwide.”
With a strong focus on technological innovation, WIJ Healthcare allocates over 80% of its annual budget to R&D. Beyond increased investment in R&D, the company collaborates with Fudan University, Jiangnan University, South China University of Technology, and the Oriental Beauty Valley Skin Science Research Institute to find the shortest paths to technical breakthroughs. Early this year, WIJ Healthcare and Jiangnan University launched a Joint Research Center for Beauty Science, committed to leveraging synthetic biology in beauty industry innovations.
In synthetic biology, R&D challenges form the primary technical barriers. WIJ Healthcare focuses on two main R&D paths, pioneering peptide and plant-based active ingredients’ research, production, and sales. The company has developed two key technology platforms. The first, an advanced enzyme engineering platform, uses a proprietary in vitro enzyme method to synthesize peptides of 2–10 amino acids. These shorter peptides have a smaller molecular weight, allowing faster absorption and metabolism, higher safety, and reducing costs by nearly 80% compared to chemical synthesis. The second platform involves a unique plant library with green, safe plant extraction technologies, creating multiple plant extracts and new formulations. Additionally, WIJ Healthcare’s gene-editing techniques for microbial chassis organisms facilitate efficient synthesis of innovative cosmetic raw materials and enable transplanting active ingredients from unique plants into microbial cell factories, overcoming the limitations of natural plant sources.
Discussing WIJ Healthcare’s new raw materials, Helen Li confidently states, “Our core competitive edge lies in the technological and efficacy advantages of our products. Data analysis shows our products lead in the industry.” Studies have demonstrated that the company’s unique peptide ingredient, PptRepair, combines skin barrier repair, hydration, and firming properties. PptRepair can be used in masks, lotions, serums, and cleansers, promoting epidermal regeneration, enhancing barrier function, and boosting the expression of epidermal cell protein genes, with superior effects to oligomeric hyaluronic acid. This ingredient has already been submitted for regulatory approval, with hopes of entering the Chinese market in six months, along with plans to expand into the U.S. and other international markets as a cross-industry raw material incorporating food-grade ingredients into cosmetics.
Notably, WIJ Healthcare has recently introduced a new product, “ORCHID HEART” — a cod collagen peptide drink branded as “惠轻颜” in Chinese. This peptide drink boasts anti-aging and restorative properties, featuring small molecules with high absorbability, showing an absorption rate 10–12 times greater than similar products on the market. In the beauty food sector, WIJ Healthcare has successfully integrated its proprietary collagen tripeptides, creating an innovative product under the “ORCHID HEART” brand with an average molecular weight of 350 Da. Already promoted on Tmall and Xiaohongshu, this drink supports not only youthful vitality with long-term use but also helps to relax, soothe, and improve sleep quality.
ORCHID HEART 28-day real person test clinical data table
Additionally, WIJ Healthcare’s newly developed cosmetic ingredient, PureStarTM, is a 100% herbal extract-based blend with a unique formulation, providing powerful anti-inflammatory, anti-acne, oil-control, and scar-healing effects. Helen Li shared that PureStarTM’s product launch is scheduled for October this year, unveiling the “green” innovation of this botanical raw material.
The synergy between science and industry accelerates products’ journey from the lab to the market. “Commercialization is WIJ Healthcare’s strength,” says Helen Li confidently. From R&D to product launch, outsourced production, sales, and custom services along the value chain, Helen Li and her team achieved impressive milestones within just one year since the company’s inception.
For Helen Li, she’s simply the captain who set sail on the synthetic biology journey. This ship carries the dream of transforming researchers' lab results into industry-changing products.
03
Beauty and Technology in Harmony: How Innovation Shapes the Future
As one of the six disruptive technologies of the 21st century, synthetic biology offers advantages over chemical synthesis, including shorter development cycles, higher technical complexity, and reduced resource consumption, which collectively lower costs and protect the environment. According to McKinsey, products manufactured through synthetic biology could replace up to 60% of chemical-based products, with potential to transform industries like chemicals, pharmaceuticals, food, energy, and agriculture. With its extensive applications, and as technological advances reduce costs, synthetic biology is poised to drive an industrial revolution that upgrades manufacturing.
The development of the synthetic biology industry is not only a significant trend within the sector but also an opportunity for China's industries to achieve leapfrog upgrades. Leveraging policy support, China is building a globally leading industrial cluster. The Central Economic Work Conference and the 2024 Government Work Report have emphasized the need to "develop several strategic emerging industries such as biomanufacturing, commercial aerospace, and low-altitude economy, while exploring new industrial tracks in quantum technology and life sciences." Biomanufacturing continues to be recognized by the government for its strategic significance as a new type of productive force.
In January 2024, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and six other departments issued the "Implementation Opinions on Promoting Innovation and Development of Future Industries," which clearly stated the need to "accelerate the industrialization of cutting-edge technologies such as cell and gene technology, synthetic biology, and biological breeding."
As one of the origins of synthetic biology in China, the Shanghai Municipal Government released an action plan in 2023, designating synthetic biology technology as an important engine for the development of high-end manufacturing in Shanghai. By 2030, the goal is to establish a high-end biomanufacturing industrial cluster with global influence. The Shanghai Synthetic Biology Innovation Center was also established in November 2023 to systematically address major engineering challenges in the industrialization of synthetic biology technology.
Currently, in the segmented market of synthetic biology, applications are primarily distributed across healthcare, research services, chemicals, agriculture, food, and cosmetics. Among these, synthetic biology is gaining particular attention in the cosmetics sector as a rising star. An opinion piece in the prestigious journal Nature Biotechnology states, "Synthetic biology companies see an untapped market in the cosmetics industry, with growing opportunities and lower regulatory barriers."
For the cosmetics industry, the revolutionary significance of synthetic biology lies in its ability to design and modify life elements such as genes, enzymes, and cells rationally, enabling the production of cosmetic raw materials with equal performance at lower costs and in a more sustainable manner. According to data from the National Medical Products Administration, 15 new peptide raw materials have been registered to date.
In response, WIJ Healthcare is accelerating its strategic layout and has established development goals for the next five years. Helen Li stated that the company is committed to creating an innovative, healthy, joyful, and diverse brand image, allowing the power of independent innovation to resonate deeply and establishing a "Chinese core" for cosmetic and food raw materials in the field of synthetic biology.
Currently, WIJ Healthcare is dedicated to building its own factory and establishing an innovative company with a complete industrial chain from research and development to production. To achieve comprehensive capacity enhancement, WIJ Healthcare plans to construct two offline production lines in China, creating a research and development, production, and office integrated innovation base. At the same time, the company will register an overseas trade entity to establish a global market operation center.
Innovation is a continuous journey. Beauty and health are eternal pursuits of humanity. As a woman, Helen Li believes that the power of independent technological innovation can bring safer, more efficient, and more convenient products to the industry. As a participant in the wave of synthetic biology, WIJ Healthcare aims to collaborate with countries around the world to create high-value molecules that contribute to beauty and health, making new contributions to the cause of global well-being.