To solve the difficulties encountered by some high-tech companies, the Zhongguancun Administrative Committee launched investigations on the Zhongguancun frontier innovation technology enterprises on Feb 22.

Nanopore gene sequencing and safe cerebral blood flow imaging, the two world-leading products provided by Qitantech and CereFlow are expected to enter the medical examination market and change our lives in the future.

In the 260-square-meter office space of Qitantech, visitors can witness countless bottles and cans in the laboratory, and a device similar to a small rice cooker was put on the desk with its lid open.

Several green circuit boards are exposed --- This is the engineering prototype of the nanopore gene sequencer, which is one of the best in the world.

Doctor Bai, co-founder of Qitantech explains the scientific theories of nanopore gene sequencing to the Zhongguancun Administrative Committee. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

"The passage of a nanopore formed by protein allows the DNA strand to pass through this nanopore channel, which produces an electrical signal corresponding to the base sequence of DNA," co-founder Hu Geng, graduate from Tsinghua University, explained.

The second generation of traditional genetic sequencers is the size of a refrigerator, and it takes at least seven hours to complete one sequencing.

The engineering prototype of the nanopore gene sequencer. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

But the nanopore gene sequencer will be miniaturized like a mobile phone in the future, which will make it easier to enter the medical examination market and help more people in early cancer screening, prenatal diagnosis and so forth.

Qitantech hopes to make the cost less than one hundred yuan for one sequencing. If this instrument can be installed on household appliances, the intestinal microflora can be measured in smart toilets. If there is a risk of intestinal cancer, the number and types of intestinal microflora will change correspondingly.

Currently, only one UK company in the world has commercialized nanopore gene sequencers, and Qitantech can be regarded as the second enterprise to make this attempt.

"We hope to make this product mature and meet the specifications of the second category of medical devices, so as to apply for the Medical Device License, and launch the product in the medical market for clinical applications. By that time, the accuracy rate is expected to reach 95 percent, enabling it to compete with foreign countries,” he added.

Like Qitantech, CereFlow was also set up in 2016. The fast-developing enterprise is committed to the prevention and control of diseases like cerebral apoplexy.

Meng Cheng, general manager of CereFlow, introduces their technological breakthroughs to the Zhongguancun Administrative Committee. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

This disease is the leading cause of death in China. Every year, two million people die from cerebral apoplexy, and 270 million people are at high risk. But the timely treatment rate only stands at 2 percent.

In addition, in conventional cerebral blood flow imaging, patients must be injected with contrast agents, which is extremely risky, Meng Gang, general manager of CereFlow, mentioned.

"Contrast agents cause damage to the kidney. The agents will accumulate in the brain, and a small part of it can never be discharged. Therefore, the more times you receive the traditional imaging, the higher risk you will bear. If the problem gets serious, it will cause anaphylactic shock."

But, now, by inputting a set of instruction code of the scanning sequence in the MRI equipment, and then using a black box to perform post-processing of cerebral blood flow, patients no longer need to use contrast agents.

The test results can be presented on the doctor's mobile phone as fast as 4 minutes 45 seconds. This technology has received two international patents, which gives it an absolute global advantage.

The current ASLl technologies in the world all belong to single-parameter, which can only provide the data of cerebral blood flow, but CereFlow provides cerebral blood flow (CBF), cerebral blood volume (CBV) and arterial transit time (ATT).

"For frontier innovation technology companies, the support of industrial policies is very important, the special price of our office in Beijing Innovation Collaboration Institute is very low. Besides, ZGC InnoTown has provided our employees over ten houses for free or at a very low price," Meng added.

With the aim of supporting more sci-tech enterprises, the research activities organized by the Zhongguancun Administrative Committee will be held every two weeks in the future.