On December 19, reporters learned from the Bureau of Industry and Information Technology of Shizuishan City that Ningxia Zhongke Bio-new Materials Co., Ltd.’s pilot-scale platform for bio-based long-chain carbon materials has recently been approved as a three-star demonstration platform for national-level biomanufacturing pilot-scale capabilities, jointly launched by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the National Development and Reform Commission. To date, the platform has provided services to a total of seven bio-manufacturing enterprises and successfully facilitated the scale-up of nine laboratory achievements, three of which have now entered industrial production.

Ningxia Zhongke Bio-new Materials Co., Ltd., as a national high-tech enterprise, specializes in lauric acid—a product classified as a strategic emerging industry by the state. Relying on its own technological expertise, the company has established a public service platform for industrial technology infrastructure serving the northwest region. The platform focuses on addressing common technical challenges across the bio-manufacturing value chain, conducting targeted research and development, and promoting the sharing of research outcomes, thereby providing strong support for the development of the synthetic biology industry in Ningxia.

The platform has established scalable validation capabilities covering the entire process—from fermentation to separation, purification, and detection. It is equipped with fully automated fermentation tank systems ranging in capacity from 5 liters to 50 cubic meters, and is complemented by downstream equipment such as membrane separation, crystallization, and drying units, thereby forming a complete pilot-scale production line. This line enables seamless transition and validation from laboratory “gram-level” samples to industrial-scale “ton-level” products, effectively bridging the gap between R&D and mass production and providing a practical and viable solution to the long-standing challenge of process scale-up in the field of biomanufacturing.

“This pilot-scale platform has become a key hub for attracting high-level talent in the field of synthetic biology. To date, it has successfully recruited and cultivated a total of 42 core personnel, including 24 who were developed internally. Additionally, 11 doctoral and master’s degree holders have been flexibly introduced from universities and research institutions such as Tianjin University, Shandong University, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, thereby establishing a solid R&D team.” Li Zhongfu, Assistant General Manager of Ningxia Zhongke Bio-new Materials Co., Ltd., explained that by combining the introduction of expert talent with independent innovation, the platform has achieved several significant breakthroughs and has undertaken numerous research projects, including key R&D programs at the autonomous region level. The platform has filed a total of 14 patent applications to date, and its innovative achievements continue to accumulate.

With the support of the Shizuishan Municipal Government, in 2024, the pilot-scale platform for bio-based long-chain materials developed by Zhongke Bio New Materials successfully attracted the industrialization technology team from Hunan Xinhexin Biopharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Within three months, the team optimized and improved key technologies such as aqueous-phase purification, boosting the overall production capacity by more than double.

“The core value of the pilot-scale platform lies not only in its hardware validation capability at the tens-of-thousands-ton level, but even more so in the innovative service ecosystem it has built as an open and shared ‘incubator’ and ‘connector’ for the industry,” Li Zhongfu explained. The platform’s system integrates R&D centers, testing centers, and pilot production lines, aiming to establish a seamless link from laboratory research results all the way to industrial-scale implementation, providing enterprises both within and outside the region with one-stop, systematic engineering development and services.

According to the introduction, to precisely address the pain points at various stages of biomanufacturing, this pilot-scale platform has launched three differentiated and flexible cooperation models: enterprises can bring their own equipment for “embedded” R&D; they can fully independently use the platform’s production lines for validation; or they can completely entrust the platform with carrying out the pilot-scale testing. Complementing these models is a robust intellectual property protection system. The platform features four separate, Class-10,000 cleanroom zones dedicated to microbial strain handling, and employs contractual constraints and physical isolation to establish a secure barrier that gives partners peace of mind. This setup positions the platform as a pivotal hub for realizing an industrial synergy model in which “R&D takes place nationwide, while pilot-scale transformation occurs in Ningxia.”

The head of Zhongke Bio-new Materials stated that next year, the company will build a food-grade laboratory and a pilot-scale system featuring digitalized 10-ton fermentation tanks. This will enable the platform to expand beyond the “bio-based long-chain material” sector into broader areas such as synthetic biology-derived food, pharmaceuticals, and chemical raw materials. Through a series of initiatives—including co-establishing joint laboratories with research institutes, developing a digital management platform, and purposefully cultivating industry-specific talent—the platform will further enhance its comprehensive capabilities in industrializing technological breakthroughs, incubating research outcomes, and nurturing talent.

Please click the link to explore the fermentation pilot VR of Ningxia Zhongke Bio-new Materials Co., Ltd.:

https://www.720yun.com/t/43aku9rhrih