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03

2023-08

Little “Life” Makes Sense (II) | Double Agent—Treg

Regulatory T cells (also known as Tregs) are a subset of T cells that play a critical role in modulating or suppressing the activity of other immune cells. Tregs regulate immune responses to both self-antigens and foreign antigens, thereby helping to prevent autoimmune diseases. Based on their developmental origin and functional characteristics, Tregs can be classified into two main subsets: natural regulatory T cells (nTregs) and inducible regulatory T cells (iTregs). Both subsets broadly express the transcription factor Foxp3. nTregs develop naturally in the thymus, where their suppressive function is mediated through direct cell–cell contact, whereas iTregs arise from naïve peripheral T cells that are induced by microenvironmental signals in the tumor microenvironment, including tumor-associated antigens, cytokines such as TGF-β, and other soluble factors.

2023-08-03

He Yousheng

03

2023-08

“Little ‘Life’ Makes Sense (I)” | A Brief Discussion of NK Cells

Natural killer (NK) cells are potent effector cells of the innate immune system, serving as the first line of defense against diseases, including malignant tumors, and representing the third major class of lymphocytes alongside T cells and B cells. NK cells originate from hematopoietic stem cells in the bone marrow, account for approximately 15% of all immune cells in the blood, and are predominantly found in peripheral blood, the liver, and the spleen. In humans, the defining characteristic of NK cells is a CD3−CD16+/CD56+ lymphocyte population.

2023-08-03

He Yousheng

27

2023-03

Is there a bubble in China’s cell and gene therapy industry?

At the beginning of 2023, following a high-profile yet now decidedly less vibrant JP Morgan conference in the United States, biotech companies that had endured three harsh winters under capital scarcity not only failed to see a thaw in funding but instead faced a wave of successive layoffs, company closures, and asset sales: Aristea in the large-molecule space shut down, while Goldfinch and Xenikos initiated liquidation proceedings; in the cell and gene therapy sector, Editas and Century carried out workforce reductions, and Rubius closed its doors.

2023-03-27

He Yousheng

27

2023-03

Now that Funo Biotech is also entering the cell and gene CDMO space, could it be following the same path as the antibody industry?

Following the spin-off of CMC and manufacturing teams from antibody biopharmaceutical companies to establish independent CDMO firms, there is now a growing trend among cell and gene therapy R&D companies to carve out CGT CDMOs as well. For instance, JiaYin Bio, an AAV drug developer, established CoJourney Biotech in 2022 as an AAV CDMO service provider, while FunoGene Biotech, a oncolytic virus drug developer, recently founded FRASERNA to offer a one-stop CRDMO platform for viral vector and nucleic acid therapeutics—covering everything from concept development through IND filing to commercialization. Since its founding in 2019, JiaYin Bio has been focused on the R&D of AAV viral vector–based gene therapies.

2023-03-27

He Yousheng

27

2023-03

The EBC Expo is a showcase for the bioindustry.

Yesterday, I attended the 2023 Yimao Biotechnology Industry Conference and Exhibition together with my colleagues. On the first day of the event, my observations in Hall C—primarily dedicated to instruments, equipment, and consumables—revealed the following: the upstream segment was dominated by fermentation tanks and bioreactors, while the downstream segment featured purification equipment such as chromatography columns, liquid-handling chromatography systems, and ATF tangential-flow filtration systems. General laboratory equipment included temperature-controlled instruments, liquid-handling workstations, ultrapure water systems, and pipette-assembly/sealing machines. As for reagents and consumables, the main categories were culture media, packing materials, filters, and culture flasks. Notably, most of the custom-designed booths were occupied by domestic brands, whereas several well-known foreign brands—such as Sartorius and Thermo Fisher—did not have any exhibition space at all. In contrast, leading Chinese instrument and equipment companies had all set up prominently designed, custom-built booths, including JinYi Shengshi, Biolab, Saiqiao Bio, Zhongboruikang, and Hanbang Tech.

2023-03-27

He Yousheng

21

2023-02

Industry Research | Cell and Gene Therapy

Cell and gene therapy is an emerging therapeutic approach that involves the delivery of exogenous genetic material into target cells to modify or manipulate gene expression, thereby altering cellular biological properties and achieving therapeutic outcomes.

2023-02-21

He Yousheng
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