Once again, the Hong Kong Investment Company, known as the 'Hong Kong version of Temasek,' has made a move. The Hong Kong Investment Company recently announced its strategic investment in BaiTu Biosciences, founded by Baidu's founder Li Yanhong and Baidu Ventures president Liu Wei. The Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily reporter asked Baidu for clarification, but as of press time, no response has been received.

According to Caixin Venture Intelligence-Zhizhong Data, this is an AI big model-driven life science R&D platform. The company was founded in 2020, and Liu Wei, the president of Baidu Ventures, is the legal representative.

An investor believes that under the investment of Hong Kong Investment Company in Baitu Biosciences, it is bullish on AI entrepreneurial companies in the subdivision field and also makes Hong Kong the destination for high-quality science and technology innovation company IPOs. After receiving the strategic investment from the investment, Liu Wei, co-founder of BaiTu Biosciences, stated that BaiTu Biosciences is a rapidly growing company and is currently discussing and formulating various plans for listing or subsequent capital, but it will definitely choose to go public in Hong Kong first.

The special zone government has also 'attracted investment.'

In the context of national asset 'investment attraction,' the special zone government is also unable to sit still. This time, the Hong Kong Investment Company, which has invested in Baitu Biosciences, is wholly owned by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government. It plans to promote the development of target industries through investment strategies to enhance Hong Kong's long-term competitiveness and economic vitality and earn investment returns.

As of now, the Hong Kong Investment Company has managed four funds, including the Hong Kong Growth Portfolio, the Greater Bay Area Investment Fund, the Strategic Innovation and Technology Fund, and the Co-investment Fund, with a total initial size of 62 billion yuan.

Baitu Biosciences, which has been invested by strategic investors, is a 'new force in pharmaceuticals.' The company was founded by Baidu founder Li Yanhong and is headquartered in the United States. After receiving strategic investment, Baitu Biosciences will be located in the Hong Kong Science Park.

Regarding its location in Hong Kong, Liu Wei stated that Hong Kong has a good group of scholars in the field of AI life sciences, and coupled with Hong Kong's advantages in system and intellectual property protection, this is crucial for science and technology innovation companies.

An investor told The Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily that Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and City University of Hong Kong, in particular, have been focusing on AI and life health sciences in recent years, and related forums and exchanges have also promoted cross-disciplinary integration of technology and medicine.

This investor believes that the Innovative Translational Research Institute (ITR) established by the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park provides comprehensive support for biotech companies, including incubation, acceleration programs, and advanced research facilities to meet the needs of innovation and development in various stages. 'In the midst of support, Hong Kong's sound legal system and numerous excellent intellectual property (IP) legal service providers have also created a safe and favorable entrepreneurial environment for the biotech industry.'

As an enabler, since the introduction of the 'Chapter 18A' listing regulations for biotech companies in Hong Kong in 2018, it has already attracted 64 biotech companies to go public in Hong Kong, including leading companies such as innovative cancer drug R&D company Beigene, heart valve disease treatment company Qiming Medical, innovative biopharmaceutical company Kang Xi No., the vaccine company, and others.

Li Yanhong founded the AI pharmaceutical startup.

The reason why the Hong Kong Investment Company's strategic investment in Baitu Biosciences has attracted attention is not only because the investing party is the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government's wholly-owned Hong Kong Investment Company, but also because of the attention received by the invested party.

The Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily reporter learned that as the initiator of 'BaiTu Biosciences,' Li Yanhong has a long-standing interest and investment in life sciences.

As early as when he was working on Wall Street, Li Yanhong applied for a job related to bioinformatics research and, as one of the co-donors, established the Future Science Prize, which has been dubbed the 'Chinese Nobel Prize.' It is reported that the award has a single prize of up to $1 million.

Regarding life sciences, Li Yanhong believes that with the improvement of computing power and the decline in the cost of gene sequencing, AI can bring new possibilities to life science research. Therefore, Baidu, founded by Li Yanhong, is also one of the domestic companies that has focused on biological computing algorithm research and investment.

According to Caixin Venture Intelligence-Zhizhong Data, Baidu Ventures controlled by Li Yanhong has invested in nearly 300 biomedicine and medical healthcare companies, and more than 40 of them involve biological computing companies such as AI drug discovery, multi-omics data, and molecular imaging.

In the field of medicine and healthcare, Baidu founded the Medical Division in 2015. Although the Medical Division was later disbanded, it still invests in related fields and launched Baidu Baike Medical Dictionary.

In addition to Li Yanhong, the co-founder Liu Wei's platform and a team of life science PhDs from top universities in the world, as well as experienced professionals from the biopharmaceutical industry, have enriched the top team of Baitu Shengke.

According to financing data, in its second year of establishment, Baitu Shengke received hundreds of millions of yuan in financing from Jiyuan Capital, Baidu, Junlian Capital, Blue Chi Venture Capital, Zhenzhi Venture Capital, Xianghe Capital, and Li Yanhong. In the year when it completed financing of hundreds of millions of yuan, Baitu Shengke launched the 'Immunogram Excellence Program', which received nearly 100 clinical and research teams from systems such as the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hiap Hoe, Peking University, Tsinghua University, and Fudan University.

Regarding this program, Li Yanhong once said that Baitu Shengke uses its own core bio-computing engine, massive proprietary data, and ecosystem partners to jointly promote the drawing of an immunogram, systematically exploring the complex immune regulations of diseases such as cancer and immunity, and further improving the efficiency of target mining and drug design.

Nvidia adds another fire.

In fact, for the investment market, AI pharmaceuticals is not a new track.

AI pharmaceuticals became a new trend a few years ago. However, AI pharmaceuticals has attracted attention again, or stems from the fact that Nvidia's venture capital department has invested a large part of its investment in drug discovery in the past few years.

According to the data of Cailianchuang Venture Capital, in 2023, Nvidia invested in eight drug discovery start-ups, including Generate Biomedicines Inc. and Genesis Therapeutics Inc., and launched the cloud-based generative AI platform BioNeMo, aiming to achieve faster drug discovery and design.

Why has Nvidia set its sights on AI pharmaceuticals? Huang Renxun stated that generative AI is a revolutionary tool for developing new drugs and therapies. Nvidia's investment in AI pharmaceutical companies can accelerate the development of the world's largest bio-molecular generative AI model.

Another investor told the Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily that 'Nvidia has core technology for designing and manufacturing chips that drive artificial intelligence. Therefore, investing in AI pharmaceutical companies can not only expand the business scope in the medical and health fields to achieve diversified development, but also seize the development opportunities in the AI pharmaceutical industry.'

Regarding the future development of AI, the investor believes that AI pharmaceutical companies invested by Nvidia usually have a large amount of biochemistry and experimental data, which are crucial for training and optimizing AI models. 'Nvidia can gain access to these data through investment and thereby enhance the performance of its AI technology.'

So far, AI technology has played a significant role in improving R&D efficiency and reducing costs in the discovery of new drugs and preclinical research. This time, the Hong Kong investment company has also captured Li Yanhong's 'New Force in Drug Production', which is similar to Nvidia, to lay out potential tracks.

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