Susie in Shanghai

Sorry for the delay in the posting, I had a visitor for the weekend and was busy with hostess duties.  I tried to show him things to do in Shanghai, but it is more of  night-life city versus a place to go touristing.  We did get to the Urban Planning Museum, which was really interesting because it showed the development and growth of Shanghai.  We also tried out this restaurant called Coconut Paradise–best Thai food I’ve ever had.

Anyway, now that I have some free time I can post my interview from last week.  I met with one of the co-founders of Abmart, a company based in Shanghai that makes monoclonal antibodies.  For all my non-science blog followers, here is a picture to explain Abmart’s production process:

The monoclonal antibodies have numerous applications such as diagnostic tests to detect hormones, drugs, and toxins, radioimmunodetection and radio therapy of cancer, treatment of viral diseases, classifying strains of  a specific pathogen. Abmart has been able to make the antibodies for a fraction of the time and cost it takes in the U.S.

Here is a little blurb I read about Abmart prior to my interview from China & Engineering News (http://pubs.acs.org/cen/coverstory/86/8605cover.html):

Positioned as a completely different type of contract research company, AbMart is focused exclusively on biological services. Headed by the entrepreneur Xun Meng, AbMart seeks to “dramatically” lower the cost of sourcing antibodies. “If we can reduce the price of producing antibodies, especially monoclonals, it will enable the generation of a standard set of antibodies for all the human proteins and for all applications,” he says. Today, antibodies are too expensive to do this.

Meng says it’s normal that chemistry services grew in China before biology did. “Chemistry is a more standardized discipline,” he says. “Biology is more diverse, more complex.” He adds that at first he found it a bit of a challenge to find biologists in China he could employ.

Meng, who used to live in Boston, where he launched a series of biotech start-ups, says it will be difficult for a single company to provide the entire range of services that the pharmaceutical industry requires. “There is room for everyone—biology services providers, chemistry services providers, and integrated firms,” he says. “If you offer a good service, why wouldn’t the customer come to you?”

When I visited I was able to talk to the Dr. Meng as well as an intern from MIT.  This was great because I got to hear about the inner-workings of the company too. Hope you enjoy!

Q: Tell me a little bit about your background and the path that led you to your current position.

A: I completed my undergraduate degree in China and then went to NYU to pursue a PhD in chemistry.  I did my post-doc work at the University of Utah in human genetics.  In 1999 I began working for start-up companies, first in St. Louis and then in Boston. I came back to China in 2005 to co-found Abmart.

Q: Why did you decide to come back to China?

A: When I was with a start-up in Boston, we made antibodies and peptides and did business with vendors in China.  I realized there was a great opportunity to return to China during a time of so much growth and found a company there.  The timing was just right and the biotechnology industry in China was booming.

Q: I’ve done my own research on your company, but I know things in China can change quickly, so will give me an update of what your company has been specifically focused on in the past couple of years?

A: From day 1 our goal has been to industrialize biology. Research was conducted very inefficiently when I first came to China.  I thought if we could industrialize biology, then maybe we would fundamentally change the way biology was done.  Manufacturing antibodies was not systematic and it would be very expensive to scale up the process.  There are 200 individual step in making antibodies; if we could break up each step in the complex process into a simple step, then anyone could do this job without having prior biology experience. This was a breakthrough that allowed us to scale up production.

We will be opening up a new manufacturing facility soon and by then we will be the largest monoclonal antibody company in the world. Our manufacturing model has also significantly lowered costs, which allows us to offer a very competitive price.  We can offer monoclonal antibodies for about a third of what it costs in the U.S.  Our end goal is to drop the cost to $1000 per monoclonal antibody.

Q: Why did you decide to start a company manufacturing antibodies? 

A: I started the company with a friend of mine who is a professor at Stanford.  We thought going into antibody development was a simple and smart decision because there was so much market potential for the product.  There is a huge demand right now, especially with all the breakthroughs in sequencing right now.

Q: A lot of people I’ve talked to mention that the Chinese government has been instrumental in helping life science start-ups, was this the case with Abmart?

A: No. Abmart is not a Chinese company; we are a venture-backed foreign enterprise. I am very hesitant to accept money from the government because there may be certain obligations as a result.

Q: So in terms of your biggest revenue, do you mainly sell to pharmaceutical companies or other companies that market antibodies? 

A: Mostly academics actually.  We are not in a hurry to work with very large companies yet—maybe next year.  First we want to scale up our success rate to over 80% success.  Once our capacity grows and the new facility is built, then we will start talking to larger pharma companies. We have a few patents and a totally innovative way of making monoclonal antibodies that only takes three months. It has lowered costs and time spent on manufacture and increased our success.

Q: Did you file these patents in China?

A: Yes, but the patents cover China as well as foreign countries.

Q: As a small business owner, what have been some of your biggest challenges? 

A: Getting high quality workers and scientists. We’ve had extremely rapid growth over the past few years and now have over 200 employees, 10% of which have a PhD.  Our revenue in the first six months of this year is already 4-5 times what it was at this point last year, so I expect this need for high quality people to grow.  We will eventually have over 500 people and we need them in all functions—sales, marketing, customer service, etc.

Q: Right, getting business in the rest of the world entails having enough employees that speak English and have the same level of customer service as in the West.  So how do you hire and retain skilled workers? 

A: We have a very open and dynamic culture in our company.  There is a casual environment, but everyone is focused on high quality work.  We also offer our employees options and room to grow.  This definitely helps with motivation, attracting talented people, and I think separates us from other companies.

Q: As workers get more expensive here, how do you manage to balance the fact that your labor is becoming more expensive, while still remaining cost-effective and competitive for the west? 

A: We have to pay a very competitive salary because there are few people really skilled in what we do, and we want them working for us. Our cost stays low because of our scalable manufacturing and service.  By standardizing the service delivery (i.e. with an ebusiness) we stay competitive.  Anybody can order an antibody online and track their order through the entire manufacturing process.

Q: I know you have three MIT students working for you this summer; how did you manage to find the interns? 

A: MIT has a program where they place students with Chinese companies.  I happen to know the director so this year we have two students working in our marketing department and one in R&D.

 Q: What about shipping your products outside of China? Do you run into any distribution challenges?

A: No, there’s no issue with distribution in terms of regulations; however we are setting up a sales office in Boston.  Having one office in the U.S. will make distribution much more economical.

Q: How do you convince people in the western market of your quality? 

A: This is really easy for us because we offer a 100% money back guarantee. If a customer is interested in an antibody, they can send us their protein and in three months they will receive their product.  If they are not satisfied, which is very rare, it doesn’t cost them anything.  We have good customer relations and offer a service that is simple and easy, with a high success rate.

Q: How do you go up against the really big companies both in China and in the U.S? 

A: There are very few companies in the world doing what we do.  We don’t do anything else—just antibodies. This makes us an expert in the field. And compared to the U.S., we can provide an extremely low-cost product.

Q: So do you plan to stay on antibodies or expand to other ventures? In terms of expanding your business, what do you see yourself doing next?

A: I think we will expand, but will remain antibody-related. For example, we have an expert working on human antibody libraries right now.

 Q: Despite the challenges, what do you enjoy most about owning your own business? And how did working for numerous start-ups in the U.S. prepare you for this? 

A: I like having a certain amount of freedom and working with really imaginative and creative people.  I couldn’t imagine being with a really big company. In fact, I have never worked for a big company.  At my first company, I was the third employee and at the second, I was the 13^th. Working with start-ups let me see every aspect of business development.  It also taught me that you have to pick the right direction and get a really great group of people together when you start a new business.

 Q: As a college student starting out, can you offer any advice for me in terms of business and the direction that I head? 

A: It is extremely important do something you are interested in.  If you love your job, then you will be motivated, innovative, and creative, which will lead you to success.

Q: Would you recommend coming to work in China? 

A: I think it depends on the opportunity.  China is very dynamic, so there are many advantages to working here.  Having a western education and background will make you very successful here too—just make sure you continue to work on you Mandarin.

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Below is my conversation with Jennifer, an intern for Abmart and rising junior at MIT>

Q: Tell me how you found the internship with Abmart.

A: MIT has a program called “MITSI” where they send students to China and fund their internships.  There are currently three of us here with Abmart—the other two students are doing marketing and I am involved in R&D.

Q: What does the program entail and what is a typical day like for you?

A: I didn’t have prior research experience other than a couple of classes at MIT so basically I’m learning and applying first-hand all the technologies I learned about in my courses. In a typical day I shadow an employee; we will do PCR, gel electrophoresis, purification, etc.  Although I speak Chinese, it was very confusing at first because I didn’t know all the scientific names for things in Chinese. It has been a great learning process.

 Q: So is there a final paper or presentation you give at the end of the internship?

A: The other interns are working on a project where they are working on the company’s website and helping to organize the set up of the Boston office.  Since I am working in all aspects of R&D, I don’t have a final presentation.

Q: Has the internship been a good experience?

A: Yes, I really enjoy working here because it’s a small company and there is a really nice group dynamic.  Everyone knows each other and works together.  We also have group meetings every couple of weeks between groups to discuss ideas and work through problems.  I really like the atmosphere.

Q: Why did you decide to come to China? 

A: There were a bunch of reasons.  I’d never been to China before, I thought it would be a great experience, I wanted to see how start-ups in China were run, and I wanted to gain some independence by living abroad.

 Q: Do you think you would come back to China after graduation?

A: I’m not sure.  I picture myself staying in the U.S., but I guess that could change.  Moving to China would be a huge transition and my whole family is in the U.S. Ideally I would do something that involves international travel.

Q: Thanks for talking with me.  Enjoy your last two years of college…I’m jealous!