China's rapid development in the medical field in recent years is evident to all, and its technology in oncology has become relatively mature. Establishing precise prevention, diagnosis, and treatment plans and clinical decision-making systems, including tumor risk assessment, prediction and early warning, early screening, classification, individualized treatment, efficacy and safety prediction and monitoring, has become an important research area of precision medicine.

Prior to the 6th WPMCS-2021 Conference on Gene Testing and In Vitro Diagnostics, held at the Wanda Realm Guangzhou Sunac Hotel on June 4-5, we were honored to interview Professor Li Jie, founder of Proteint (Tianjin) Biotech Co., Ltd. to share his views on the current status and future of clinical applications of precision oncology.

Dr. Li Jie is a medical doctor, a specially appointed professor at Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, the founder of Proteint (Tianjin) Biotech Co., Ltd. Group, and a recipient of Tianjin's Thousand Talents Program. Dr. Li received his doctorate from the Institute of Neurology at Tianjin Medical University in 1998. From 1993 to 2001, he served as an attending physician and associate professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at Tianjin Medical University General Hospital. Since 2001, Dr. Li has worked in the United States, completing postdoctoral research and a fellowship at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), serving as a researcher at Yale University School of Medicine, and director of the sample bank at the Yale Cancer Center. His main research focus is on providing personalized precision diagnosis and treatment for diseases through comprehensive multi-omics analysis, including genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics. He returned to China in 2014 to apply multi-omics analysis to medical translation.

Question: Professor Li, you have been working in the United States since 2001. What prompted you to found Proteint?

Professor Li: In 2014, I resigned from Yale University and returned to China to start my own business full-time, founding Proteint Biotech. Some people asked me, 'Why did you change careers to start a business? Wouldn't it have been better to do medical research in the US?' Actually, I didn't 'change careers.' Rather, my years of accumulated experience led me to a medical environment more conducive to leveraging my strengths. Since becoming a surgeon, I've had a dream: a scalpel can save a hundred or even ten thousand patients. However, a breakthrough in medical technology can save all of humanity from the ravages of certain diseases. Diagnosis and treatment based on protein molecular analysis is such a technological field with unlimited medical potential. Especially when I see the accumulation of gene sequencing platform results that haven't yet been validated at the protein level, while protein profiling technology has made qualitative leaps in recent years, I hope that through my unremitting efforts, I can develop and widely apply this technology in clinical practice, serving the 'personalized precision medicine' currently advocated worldwide. If my dream comes true someday, we will be able to provide patients with more accurate and efficient personalized diagnoses, and even 'custom-made' treatment plans. For me, the 'entrepreneurship' I am engaged in is not only a passionate technological challenge, but also a medical revolution of extraordinary significance.

Question: Proteint Biotech adheres to the 'three-in-one' multi-omics precision medicine concept. Could you elaborate on this 'three-in-one' model? What work has our company done to implement this concept? 

Professor Li: In fact, the so-called 'three-in-one' approach is based on a multi-omics analysis platform that combines genes, proteins, and metabolism. It collects, integrates, and analyzes genomic, proteomic, and metabolomic information from patients with solid tumors, comprehensively extracts the individual characteristics of patients, and provides clinical and research test results for clinicians involved in precision medicine practice. While meeting the research needs of doctors, it pushes the precision of clinical treatment plans such as targeted drugs, immunotherapy, and nutritional therapy to the extreme, ultimately expanding the scope of the population that benefits from precision treatment, increasing the types of drugs available, and correcting the results of gene testing so that the individual characteristics of patients can be more comprehensively and accurately reflected, thus achieving the goal of precision medicine.

Since its inception, Proteint Biotech has always held itself to the standards of a listed company. We regard technological innovation as the inexhaustible driving force for corporate growth. In the medical field, Proteint Biotech vigorously promotes personalized disease analysis and treatment based on multi-omics, and continuously develops protein-based medical diagnostic and treatment products to create the new 'Proteint Biotech Health' brand with independent intellectual property rights.

Question: What are the biggest advantages of applying the 'three-in-one' approach to precision medicine for oncology compared to traditional methods?

Professor Li: Unlike common tumor detection products on the market, Proteint Biotech incorporates environmental pathogenic factors beyond genes (genetic pathogenic factors) into its disease analysis. As we all know, the transmission of genetic information revolves around the central dogma. The genome is the carrier of genetic information. After gene transcription, mRNA is formed, which is then translated into protein. Ultimately, protein functions at the protein level and produces effects or leaves traces at the metabolic level. Therefore, Proteint Biotech has established a multi-omics analysis platform based on the 'three-in-one' approach of genes, proteins, and metabolism. Based on high-throughput sequencing NGS, high-resolution mass spectrometry LC/MS/MS, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy NMR, the platform collects, integrates, and analyzes genomic, proteomic, and metabolomic information from patients with solid tumors. For the proteomic platform, the company strives to shorten the detection and analysis cycle while further reducing the sample volume requirement and optimizing the processing of complex samples, so that the acquired data can be more accurate and faster to meet personalized diagnostic needs.

Meanwhile, for our independently developed patented Umbrella™ computer platform, we have a database of 60,000 clinical samples and a unique, innovative network analysis method. We have separate cancer databases for lung cancer, colorectal cancer, brain tumors, and other types of tumors. The reporting system is automated, and we are continuously expanding the database and optimizing the algorithm to bring more accurate results to patients. For our metabolomics platform, utilizing the most advanced MRI equipment in China, we are further accumulating data to establish databases for different metabolic-related diseases targeting different patient populations, providing precise indicators for the diagnosis of various diseases.

While expanding the beneficiary population, we should also broaden the scope of medication use so that more cancer patients can access and benefit from the medication.

Question: Your lecture at this summit will be titled 'Clinical Applications of Precision Oncology Based on Multi-omics Analysis.' From which aspects will you elaborate? Could you please offer a message of encouragement to the conference? We look forward to your insightful presentation!

Professor Li: First, let's discuss the current status and bottlenecks of precision medicine, identifying the difficulties and pain points. Second, we'll explore current solutions to these problems, and discuss new technologies and methods that can address these challenges and drive more precise cancer diagnosis and treatment. This will be a comprehensive analysis from the perspective of the three omics frameworks, allowing us to see beyond the current state and envision the future direction of precision oncology. I hope everyone can freely discuss the vast ocean of precision medicine, and I wish the conference a complete success!

Speech Preview

Thank you, Professor Li, for accepting the interview with the organizing committee of the 6th Gene Testing and In Vitro Diagnostics Conference 2021. Professor Li will deliver a wonderful report on 'Clinical Application of Precision Medicine for Tumors Based on Multi-omics Analysis' at the plenary session on June 4th: Exploring the In Vitro Diagnostics Industry in the New Era. Stay tuned!

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Conference fee: 2180 yuan/person

On-site payment: 2800 yuan/person

Group purchase price: 15% off for groups of 3 or more

*To enhance on-site academic exchange and express gratitude to those who fought against the pandemic, doctors from medical institutions, staff of national research units, and students from related university majors can enjoy exclusive discounted rates upon presentation of their work ID or student ID. For details, please contact Ms. Wang at 17701745462 (WeChat available).