AI-driven drug discovery aided by Greater Bay Area integration, Hong Kong-listed firm says

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XtalPi Holdings, Inc artificial intelligence (AI) The drug discovery company, based in the Greater Bay Area, is changing the biopharmaceutical industry by using artificial intelligence and robotics to transform traditional approaches to drug development.

The company’s self-developed large language model (LLM), at the heart of the technology ChatGPT:How generative AI services have helped boost the success rate of chemical experiments to 90 percent from 20 to 30 percent, according to Zhang Pei, chief scientist at Shenzhen-based XtalPi.

“There are very good opportunities [for artificial general intelligence] across verticals,” Zhang told the Post at his China conference. Greater Bay Area 2025 in Guangzhou. “We saw great potential for the pharmaceutical industry to use LLMs for specialty domains.”

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Zhang expects the integration of robotics and artificial intelligence to reduce drug discovery times from four to just one or two years.

Peggy Sito (left), Business Editor of South China Morning Post works with Fosun Health CEO Hu Hang, Professor Li Hongsheng, Chief Scientist of SenseTime Healthcare’s Medical Foundation Models, MingMed Vice President Tu Fuquan and XtalPi Chief with scientific director Zhang Peiyun on January 15 in Guangzhou. Photo: Nora Tam alt=Peggy Sito (left), Business Editor, South China Morning Post Hosted by Hu Hang, CEO of Fosun Health, Professor Li Hongsheng, Chief Scientist of SenseTime Healthcare Medical Foundation Models, MingMed Vice President Tu Fuquan, and XtalPi Chief Scientific Officer Zhang Peiyu on January 15 in Guangzhou. Photo: Nora Tam>

Founded in 2014 by three quantum physicists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, XtalPi established its research and development base in Shenzhen a year later.Located in the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Cooperation Zone, on the border between the two cities, the company has capitalized on local industrial policy to become an AI a major player in drug development, serving nearly four out of five of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies.

Zhang said the company’s development has been fueled by regional synergies, particularly through talent acquisition, supply chain collaboration and fundraising in cities.

The cooperation zone has attracted various industry players, including biotech and pharmaceutical start-ups, service providers and regulatory agencies, Zhang said.

XtalPi’s automated chemistry lab in Shenzhen, said to be the largest in the world, runs nearly 200 robots for AI-driven experiments that require significant hardware support. said Zhang.

The company also benefited from Hong Kong’s status as a financial hub, becoming the first to list in the city last year under a new rule designed to attract strategic start-ups.

Geographical and technological advantages have positioned XtalPi for growth in both domestic and international markets.Globally, the company’s focus remains on biopharmaceutical innovation, particularly in the US, Europe, and East and Southeast Asia.It is also expanding into materials science and renewable energy areas.

Currently, the company’s revenue is split between domestic and overseas markets, according to Zhang.

XtalPi is increasingly looking beyond China. In November, it partnered with Sinar Mas Multiartha, a leading financial services provider in Indonesia, to use quantum physics, AI and robotics to boost research and development of innovative products, including medicines and new materials, in the country. :

China has rapidly integrated generative artificial intelligence into its biomedical industry over the past two years, with major pharmaceutical companies investing heavily in R&D efficiency.The chronic and autoimmune drug market is expected to be an important growth area in the country, with an estimated market size of US$20 billion by 2030, according to a May JPMorgan report.

Despite this progress, Zhang noted that China still lags behind the US in terms of first-rate innovation and basic biomedical research.

“In the future, we need to develop drugs with new targets and new mechanisms,” Zhang said, adding that both Shenzhen and Hong Kong have many good basic research results that have yet to be commercialized.

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