SHANGHAI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr 3, 2019--The Zhangjiang Life and Health Industry (Incubator) Alliance (“Alliance”) has announced that it would host the “2019 Shanghai International Laboratory Ventilation Equipment Open” between July to September this year at the ATLATL Innovation Cluster, located at the heart of Zhangjiang High-Tech Park.

The Zhangjiang Life and Health Industry (Incubator) Alliance was initiated by the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and formally established on December 26, 2018 with over 20 life and health industry related enterprises and institutions, including the Shanghai Center of Biomedicine Development, 6 Dimensions Capital, Vπ Zhangjiang Pharma Valley Platform, Vπ Zhangjiang Pharma Valley Incubator, ATLATL Innovation Cluster, and China Healthcare Consulting.

In December of last year, Dr. Tang Ming, Chairman and CEO of E3 Green Technology (Shanghai) Company, proposed the initiative to hold an international laboratory ventilation equipment open. In February of this year, E3 Green Technology, WALDNER Germany and Shanghai Dafeng Laboratory Equipment Company, jointly issued an open invitation to global colleagues in the laboratory ventilation equipment industry to participate in the “2019 Shanghai International Laboratory Ventilation Equipment Open” (“Open”). The purpose of the event is to “showcase advanced technologies, encourage innovation, promote laboratory safety and energy-efficiency.” Participating teams can be organized as individual companies or a combination of companies with complementary technologies. Each team will build a model laboratory on the same scale and operate in accordance with the same room set-point requirements. The real-time safety and energy-efficiency results will be released globally for public viewing online.

The Alliance is inviting relevant organizations and institutions to form an Organizational Committee and plan the event in a unified manner. At the same time, Professor Liu Dong, China’s leading expert in the field of laboratory HVAC, and Mr. Chip Albright, former Chairman of SEFA and industry expert, will co-chair the event’s Evaluation Committee, inviting experts from representative academic circles, design institutes and well-known enterprises to form the rest of the Evaluation Committee.

Professor Ye Yang, Vice Director of the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said: “The purpose of the Alliance is to further integrate the resources of Zhangjiang’s Life Science Industry and create a life and health related innovation ecosystem with global influence. In the biomedical industry, the Zhangjiang area has the highest concentration of innovative enterprises and institutions in the nation. There are a large number of biomedical research and development laboratories that urgently need revolutionary technologies and products in the laboratory ventilation equipment industry to help solve the long-term problem of poor laboratory safety and energy-efficiency, and to protect the life safety and health of scientific researchers. The Alliance will make every effort to be a worthy organizer and we welcome enterprises with advanced technologies and products from all over the world to participate in the international open. We hope that this event will surprise the R&D workers in our laboratories and help raise the safety level of laboratories in China from the current backward state to an international leading level.”

Dr. PC Zhu, General Manager of ATLATL Innovation Cluster, founded the first Class A shared laboratory workspace platform in Boston, U.S., a few years ago. It has since incubated a number of exceptional “unicorn companies” such as CRISPR, Editas, C4 Therapeutics, TCR2, CUE, Cristone, etc. Within one year, companies in the platform infused capital investments of over $5 billion. Within three years, five companies went IPO, elevating the notoriety of the platform within the life science industry. During his extensive survey visit of China in 2016, Dr. PC Zhu concluded that the current Chinese market has a greater need for a high-quality incubator platform. After nearly two years of preparation and construction, the ATLATL Innovation Cluster was launched, attracting many more “unicorn companies” in the industry.

Dr. PC Zhu said that the ATLATL Innovation Cluster provides high-end laboratories and environments for first-class biomedical R&D projects. The primary standard for our laboratories is first-class safety on an international level. On the premise of safety, we then pursue comfort and energy-savings. I have visited and surveyed countless laboratories in China, including several top-ranking universities and national research institutes. Many of them have serious safety concerns. They have extremely strong odors, high cross-drafts, and doors that can’t be pulled open due to improper pressurization. We should help revert this adverse situation as soon as possible. ATLATL is willing to contribute towards the promotion of laboratory safety, energy-efficiency and innovation for China and the world, so we will provide the Open’s venue space for free for half a year to host the event. During the months of the competition, we will also organize a series of activities based on the theme of laboratory safety and energy-efficiency. ATLATL has more than just laboratory workspace, we also have elements of arts, cultures and humanities. As such, it will evolve into an innovation promoting cluster, and being one of the forefront advocates of laboratory safety and energy-efficiency will be fundamental to its growth.

Mr. Jiang Tao, General Manager of Vπ Zhangjiang Pharma Valley Platform, expressed that the leaders of Zhangjiang Park regards the Open event as a top priority, with special instructions to extend utmost support and to ensure its success. Mr. Jiang said: “Although our Zhangjiang Pharma Valley Platform is also willing to host the event venue at no cost, Dr. Zhu’s ATLATL Innovation Cluster is re-built on the former Dow Corning China R&D headquarters, so its hardware and infrastructure are first-class on a world level. As such, we believe it may be more suitable as the Open event venue space. However, as long as we are able, we will do our best to provide support for other aspects of the Open event. We hope that this event will help promote many laboratories in the Zhangjiang Park, as well as laboratories all over the country, to reach a world-class level of safety and energy-efficiency.”

[“Atlatl” is a Nahuatl word that means “spear thrower”, which enabled ancient hunters to throw farther and faster, eventually generating greater returns. ATLATL is innovation’s spear thrower — to facilitate innovators’ growth and enhance their ability to reach milestones more quickly than ever.] (AP NEWS)

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PAN Peihua
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(Editor: PAN Peihua)