Portal links Connecticut and Chinese life sciences industries

CURE, the Connecticut life and healthcare sciences network, has for the first time welcomed to its membership a Chinese bioscience company. The company, HLK Biotechnology Co., Ltd, aims to collaborate with CURE to act as a portal between the Connecticut and Chinese life sciences industries.

CURE (Connecticut United for Research Excellence) is the bioscience cluster of Connecticut, a diverse network of small and large life and health care sciences companies, universities, scientists, educators, students, entrepreneurs, mentors, business experts, and investors. Together we cultivate entrepreneurship, build bioscience companies, and collaborate to ensure a sustainable, high-value bioscience and healthcare community that improves our quality of life and keeps the Connecticut economy strong.

HLK is headquartered in the high-tech industrial zone of Shenzhen, located in Guangdong province, just to the northwest of Hong Kong.

"Our goal is to bridge the West and the East in order to bring efficacious and safe medicines to patients in both countries," said co-founder and president Jun Xu. "After two years in China, we know how to navigate the hurdles of doing business in that country, with regard to working with government agencies and regulators. In addition, HLK has very strong technical capabilities in CMC and formulation development, and a wealth of knowledge at different stages of drug discovery and development."

Originally from Hunan Province, Ms Xu is now a U.S. citizen and Connecticut resident with a family in Newtown. Her business partner, Dr Zeren Wang, who is co-founder and managing director of the company, is originally from Shanghai, but is now also a U.S. citizen, living in Southbury. Both came to the U.S in the 1990s for academic training and later worked in research and development at Boehringer Ingelheim's U.S. headquarters in Ridgefield. Ms Xu estPrime Hype DF 2016 EP