Themis Qi

The US-based BioMap, which was set up by China's internet giant Baidu's (9888) founder Robin Li Yanhong, will incubate over 50 life science early-stage projects in Hong Kong over the next five years.

The news came as the biotech firm, which specializes in life sciences, signed a strategic agreement yesterday with the Hong Kong Investment Corporation, a government-owned fund that manages HK$62 billion in assets.

The cooperation aims to help develop Hong Kong as an international bio-computing innovation hub by leveraging an artificial intelligence-generated protein or AIGP platform that BioMap launched last year.

At the signing yesterday, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said Hong Kong has a solid foundation in AI and life sciences and believes the city can attract more and more tech companies to establish their base for research and development and international cooperation.

HKIC, which led a round of investment into BioMap, expects the firm will help foster a more efficient application of large language models - on which generative AI products like ChatGPT are built - and an innovation and technology ecosystem in Hong Kong, said chief executive Clara Chan Ka-chai.

BioMap will provide the selected projects access to its life sciences LLM "xTrimo" and AIGP platform technology and connections with global flagship firms and investors based on the company's business network, co-founder and chief executive Liu Wei said.

Liu, the former chief executive of Baidu Venture, added that the partnership aims to accelerate the commercialization of the rich R&D resources in Hong Kong to catch the explosive growth potential in life sciences.

Under the pact, BioMap will set up its first international innovation centre called BioMap InnoHub in the city and launch a bio-computing innovation accelerator program or BioX which will support over 50 early-stage R&D projects in cutting-edge life sciences over the next five years.

As the second strategic partner of HKIC, BioMap will prioritize projects recommended by universities and ecosystem partners in Hong Kong.

Besides, BioMap needs to nurture bio-computing talents and host relevant meetings each year. The tech company also promised to consider Hong Kong for its primary listing.

While Chan did not reveal how much HKIC has invested in BioMap, she said HKIC fares well as a leading investor, as every dollar that the government fund invests attracts at least the same amount of cash from institutions, cooperates and the industry.

BioMap to incubate 50 projects over five years