Optics Valley of China expands bio-industry base

A view of the first phase of Bio Park [Photo/WeChat account of Optics Valley of China]

The first phase of Bio Park in Biolake, located in the Wuhan East Lake High-tech Development Zone (also known as the Optics Valley of China), opened on Dec 7, and the second phase started construction that same day. 

That day, eight biological, pharmaceutical and medical companies engaged in mRNA vaccines and drugs, new antibody drugs, life metabolomics, high-end medical imaging, artificial intelligence pathology screening, surgical robots, and life science tools, signed agreements to set up operations in the newly built park. 

"We need more space to develop into the fastest-growing and largest metabolome company in China," said Tang Tang, founder of Wuhan Metware Biotechnology Co, one of the companies that set up operations in Bio Park. 

Biolake is the second national industrial base in the Optics Valley of China. Since 2008, it has attracted over 3,000 biological enterprises, leading to a series of world-leading achievements in the biotech sector, such as the plant-derived recombinant human albumin, controllable capsule endoscope and protein three-dimensional structure comparison software. 

A rendering of the second phase of Bio Park in Biolake, Optics Valley of China [Photo/WeChat account of Optics Valley of China]

Bio Park, with a development area of 640,000 square meters, is one of seven professional parks in Biolake. 

It focuses on biological research and development and the headquarters economy, with professional incubators, a drug and medical device testing center, a pilot scale-up platform, an instrument sharing center, financial service platforms and maker spaces currently under construction. 

The construction of the first phase of Bio Park started in January 2020 and involves factories, R&D buildings, and commercial supporting facilities. A number of high-tech and high-level leading biological companies, as well as leisure, catering and commercial operators, have been attracted there. 

The second phase of Bio Park includes office buildings, R&D and production buildings, corporate headquarters, hotels, apartments, and sports centers. It will focus on high-end sectors in the life and health industrial chain, such as cell and gene therapy, gene editing, synthetic biology, life omics, and brain science.