17th issue of Space and Time Dialogue
Professor Wang Gufeng
Recently, Professor Wang Gufeng, co-founder and chief scientist of Salus, an enterprise settled in the Innovation Center, was invited to an interview with the column of Space and Time Dialogue to share the experience of Salus in breaking the monopoly of foreign enterprises and independently developing sequencing and spatial omics technology.
In recent years, single-cell and spatial omics technology has developed rapidly with broad application prospects. However, due to the expensive prices, complicated operations and the monopoly of core technology by foreign enterprises, there is still a long way to go for single cell and spatial omics technology to be popularized in China.
Shenzhen Salus Biomed Technology Co., LTD. (hereinafter referred to as “Salus”) has been committed to realizing the localization of life science instruments. Its self-developed Salus Pro high-flux sequencer and SAILOR (Salus Automated Intelligent Lab for Omics Research) platform not only have the performance that can rival that of similar international products, and a number of its technologies have surpassed the existing level, broken the monopoly of foreign enterprises in terms of gene sequencing and spatial omics products in China. It has taken an extremely important step in the process of commercialization of domestic sequencer.
About the expert
Professor Wang Gufeng is the co-founder and chief scientist of Shenzhen Salus Biomed. He has a Ph. D degree in analytical chemistry from the University of Iowa and was ever a professor in the Department of Chemistry at North Carolina State University. Professor Gufeng Wang is committed to the development and innovation of super-resolution optical imaging technology, and has applied it to the structural observation of subcellular organelles and the dynamic tracking of biomolecular transport. In addition, Professor Wang Gufeng has developed ultra-fast and highly sensitive analytical technology for cancer diagnosis and prognostic biomarkers. He has published more than 80 papers in international journals such as Nature, Nature Cell Biology and Journal of the American Chemical Society.
Please introduce the positioning and vision of Salus
Professor Wang: At present, sequencing and spatial omics technology products are very expensive, and most of the core technologies are still in the hands of upstream foreign enterprises. The demand for these instruments and equipment is highly dependent on foreign enterprises. In order to break the monopoly of foreign enterprises and strengthen the protection of human genetic resources, and remove the burden of genetic research and development and accelerate the development of scientific research in China, Salus is committed to developing high-flux sequencers with local intellectual property rights and building a globally leading space biology platform.
Our vision is to be the innovator and leader in the life technology industry. At present, we focus on the independent development of gene sequencing and space biology products and scientific research and clinical transformation, so as to realize the innovation of upstream products, replace and surpass existing products, and facilitate the development of life science and genetic information security.
Before joining Salus, you once served as a professor of chemistry at North Carolina State University. What was your consideration when you returned to China and founded Salus together with Dr. Zhao Luyang? Why did you choose the track of space biology?
Professor Wang: Specifically, my decision was mainly based on the following two considerations: first, I am optimistic about the overall economic development of China; second, I am optimistic about the development of the entire sequencing industry and its derivative fields of scientific research and application. I have chosen space biology, because we observed that the development of biological technology had reached a meeting point in both breadth and depth. Various underlying technologies including multi-omics, chip, imaging and microfluidic are becoming mature, and a new generation of biological tools is ready to emerge. Technological breakthroughs will open up a new world for us.
As we all know, past research has either focused on depth. What is reflected in the resolution is that we can directly observe cells and molecules and study biological processes in the most basic units of biology. However, we can only observe one or several molecules at a time, and often feel powerless in studying complex life processes due to insufficient information or flux. Past research might also focus on another dimension - breadth, and study almost all DNA, proteins and metabolites at the organizational level, resulting in multiple omics. We obtained fluxes but lost spatial resolution and failed to know how these molecules interact. Space biology tools achieve breakthroughs in both depth and breadth. Simply speaking, it is like a supermicroscope that can “see” various molecules and their interactions. Space biology research can see through the function and interaction network of genome, transcriptome, epigenome, metabolome and proteome at the cell and even organelle level, the core of which is to achieve both the flux and spatial resolution. This advance is crucial in promoting the development of biology, and I think space biology is the only way for biological research in the future.
How do you view the relationship between spatial omics technology and single-cell sequencing technology? What do you think of the current global market pattern of spatial omics?
Professor Wang: Spacial omics and single-cell technology cover a wide range of areas. Spatial biology, also known as spatial multi-omics, can include a series of molecular studies such as genome, transcriptome, epigenome, and proteome. Spatial omics and single-cell sequencing often refers to transcriptome studies. In this regard, single-cell sequencing is a useful technology to inform us about the types of cells, and further subdivide cell subtypes, with a key role in elucidating cell differentiation trajectories and the fate of cells. However, single-cell sequencing cannot provide spatial information of cells, and the interaction between them can only be inferred indirectly or even guessed. Compared with single-cell sequencing technology, spatial omics has a strong capacity in spatial positioning. When the resolution is high enough, it can project the spatial distribution of each cell subtype, and accurately predict and describe the relationship and mode of cell interactions. The two technologies are very complementary, and it is the best strategy to combine them for a long time in the future. But it remains to be seen whether the spacial omics will replace single-cell sequencing technologies.
From an economic point of view, I think the spatial omics market is on the rise, and the overall commercialization is still in its infancy. With the maturity of technology and the expansion of the industrial chain, there may be more enterprises to join this track in the future, and more and better products will emerge. Salus is releasing such a new product that greatly improves the spatial resolution and cell capturing rate, compared with the 10x Genomics Visium platform popular on the market. It’s most noteworthy is that the spatial resolution has increased by over 50 times to the subcellular level.
Salus has the internationally leading sequencing and omics platform. The Salus Pro high-flux sequencer was launched in November last year. Compared with other sequencing instruments, what are the unique advantages of Salus Pro high-flux sequencer? How is the current data on the platform?
Professor Wang: Salus Pro medium-high flux sequencer is the first product we use to break the market monopoly and realize technology accumulation. Its overall design and positioning are closer to the needs of various users, including clinical applications. This product integrates innovative technologies such as large visual field imaging, efficient sequencing enzyme, and rapid chemistry, with an original Q30 of up to 0.9. We have conducted comprehensive tests on various types of samples in about 40 domestic enterprises, hospitals and research institutions. The conclusion is that the performance parameters and data quality of our products are comparable to similar products of foreign leading enterprises. In some subdivided fields, we have achieved great transcendence, such as SE100 sequencing in 6.5 hours and PE250 sequencing mode.
On February 8 this year, another core product of Salus, Salus Evo high-flux sequencer, was unveiled during the 24th China High-tech Fair’s excellent product exhibition. Please briefly introduce this product.
Professor Wang: Salus Evo is a sequencer positioned with a high to very high flux, which is our competitor in another flux. It has upgraded the core modules of Salus Pro such as fluid and chip chemistry, and innovatively used faster imaging technology to further raise the sequencing speed. Salus Evo High-flux sequencer is a complex system integrating interdisciplinary and cutting-edge industrial technologies such as small molecule synthesis, enzyme engineering, chip chemistry, precision optics, mechanics, microfluidics, and image algorithm. It not only has high requirements for each single technology, but also raises strict requirements for architecture design and system integration. We wish it to be a “bright star” in the sequencing industry.
In addition to Salus Evo, super-resolution spatial omics chip based on high-flux sequencing and automatic and intelligent multi-omics platform SAILOR (Salus Automated Intelligent Lab for Omics Research) is also one of the main directions of Salus. Please briefly introduce the platform and the current product pipeline layout of Salus.
Professor Wang: The SAILOR platform integrates our high-flux sequencer and spatial omics equipment. It can not only adapt to the application scenarios of sequencer and super-resolution spatial omics platform, but also can seamlessly connect the front-end sample preparation link with other equipment for omics research. Full automation and intelligent control technology can provide an overall solution for clinical and scientific researches.
Salus was founded in October 2020. Actually, its history since establishment is not quite long. At present, our clear layout lies in the sequencer and spatial biology, two product pipelines. For sequencers, one of the important directions is to develop in breadth, such as high flux, large cohort population genome; as to spatial omics, we will develop in depth on the basis of breadth, and pursue high spatial resolution. Super-resolution imaging technology is our unique strength. Its application in the sequencer can solve the problem that the “dots” of image data are too dense to be seen clearly, increase the data capture per unit area, so as to reduce the acquisition cost per unit of data. When it is applied in spatial omics, we can get more subtle spatial molecular distribution and structure information, and see what our predecessors could not see or even think of.
Specifically, our product pipeline layout is actually based on our “FFAA” concept. The first “F” means Fast, since sequencing and imaging should be fast; the second “F” means Flexible, as flux should be diverse and able to adapt to different scenarios; the third letter “A” means Accurate, which is the most fundamental condition; the fourth letter “A” means Affordable so that the products can be afforded by the public and used freely.
The world’s leading super-resolution spatial omics technology has achieved sub-micron level resolution. What is its significance for promoting the development of spatial omics?
Professor Wang: As mentioned above, one of the keys to spatial omics lies in spatial resolution. Only after the resolution is achieved at the subcellular level can it be meaningful to study the molecular interaction. At present, the successfully commercialized spatial omics products based on NGS technology on the market have a resolution far higher than that of a single cell, and have a narrow visual field, which is far from meeting the requirements of biologists. Although more extensive analysis can be conducted by combining with single-cell sequencing, the results obtained by deconvolution or mapping cannot avoid computational errors. Our SAILOR platform has a resolution at the sub-micron level, which can reveal the cell interactions caused by cell contact or proximity, providing a good support for us to explore molecular pathogenesis and reveal disease-specific biomarkers.
Furthermore, Salus is currently deploying in the application of super-resolution optics in spatial biology, which has raised the spatial resolution to the level of suborganelles, revealing molecular interactions, and exploring life phenomena at the molecular level.
What challenges do you think are faced by spatial omics technology to truly realize clinical transformation? How long is the way to go for its spatial omics products to achieve clinical transformation?
Professor Wang: The spatial omics has developed for long. At present, it is still in the scientific research stage, and the clinical transformation has not been fully realized. There are still a series of problems that limit its clinical translation. On the one hand, the types of technically detectable samples are very limited, which has a high requirement on the start state of samples; on the other hand, the technical process of spatial omics is relatively complex. Besides, the prices of instruments and consumables are high. However, it is clear that spatial technology will have a revolutionary significance in pathological research and clinical diagnosis in the future, with a huge development space for clinical application scenarios in different directions. At present, there is still some way to go before achieving clinical transformation, but many of our technologies are leading in the world.
Salus has a number of patents related with sequencing. Please introduce these patents.
Professor Wang: Application for patents is a core and slow process. Relatively speaking, Salus’s history is not so long since its establishment, but we have never let up in this respect. Nowadays, about 60 patents of ours are under review or have been approved. This cannot do without our early planning, and these patents can be roughly divided in four directions, covering some of our core technologies. Among them, there are about 20 patents of mechanical and biochemical reagents, more than 10 patents of optical path and spatial transcriptomes, and about 10 patents of bio-informatics algorithms.
In October 2022, Salus successfully completed the pre-A round of financing to raise a fund of more than 100 million yuan, which was relatively high among the early rounds of financing. What do you think are the reasons why Salus is valued by investors?
Professor Wang: At present, the degree of specialization of domestic investors is very high. In the process, we have made in-depth communication on the following core points: first, whether it has its own unique views and plans for market and technology development; second, whether the enterprise has the leading technical strength to support these insights and plans; third, the ability of the enterprise personnel to turn the plan into reality. For Salus, we have made relatively full preparations for the above three points in thought and action. To be specific, first of all, Salus has demonstrated a very high efficiency. In just 1-2 years, it launched the first sequencer, completed mass production and commercialization. The first generation of spatial omics products is also becoming mature and is being launched. Secondly, on the basis of sequencers, we have deployed in the novel and promising track of space biology, and we have already started to implement it. Meanwhile, we have our own exclusive super-resolution optical imaging and spatial omics technology on this track. I think, these are some important reasons for the joint development of Salus and the investors.
What are the development plans of Salus in the next five years?
Professor Wang: Our Salus Pro sequencer is being commercialized and expanding overseas; in Q2 of 2023, we will commercialize the first ~1 micron spatial omics chip and in H2, we will will launch the second sequencer Salus Evo. In the future, we will launch a number of new sequencing and space omics products to meet more diverse demands for sequencing and omics, and work with the upstream and downstream to build an ecosystem with a higher localization rate and more breakthroughs in cutting-edge technologies.
About Salus
Shenzhen Salus Biomed Technology Co., Ltd. was established in October 2020, co-founded by a professor from a famous university in the United States and three Peacock Talents from Shenzhen. The company focuses on the development of upstream sequencing platform with independent intellectual property rights, and building the world’s leading super-resolution spatial omics platform based on it, realizing the independent development of genomics and spatial omics products and the transformation of scientific research at the clinical end. The company has broken through the bottlenecks faced by earlier multi-omics products such as flux, cost, resolution, and automation, and realized the localization of the platform. Earlier since its establishment, it obtained the angel investment led by Zhen Fund, and has raised funds of hundreds of millions of yuan so far. Headquartered in Huanan Medical Valley, Guangming District, Shenzhen, with 8000 ㎡ R & D base and production lines, it was one of the first batch of companies to be recognized as a synthetic biology enterprise in Guangming District. The company has internationally leading sequencing and omics platforms, which can provide comprehensive solutions for the middle and downstream applications, and has cooperated with a number of institutions.