The collagen industry is rapidly embracing artificial intelligence. Recently, Jinbo Biotech, a listed leader in biomanufacturing, announced the groundbreaking ceremony for its medical humanized collagen FAST database and product development platform project. This marks the official start of physical construction for the world's first AI deep learning-driven FAST collagen database and applied research platform. Notably, this project was part of a private placement plan announced last September, with a total investment reaching 1.26 billion yuan, covering the construction of an AI database, functional protein research and development, and fermentation production lines.
In June of last year, Yang Xia, the "Shanxi's Richest Woman," major shareholder, and actual controller of Jinbo Biotech, transferred approximately 57.533 million of her company shares, worth about 1.403 billion yuan, to Jiushi Hangzhou, a subsidiary of Yangshengtang. Zhong Shanshan, the "Richest Man in China," holds a 98.38% stake in Yangshengtang, making him its controlling shareholder and actual controller. Following this transaction, he indirectly holds a combined 10.6% stake in Jinbo Biotech, becoming the second-largest shareholder.
In 2025, Jinbo Biotech's performance preview revealed a net profit decline for the first time. Despite achieving annual revenue of 1.595 billion yuan, net profit fell by 10%. This situation of "increased revenue without increased profit" is seen as signaling the end of the company's high-growth period. In the current market climate, AI has become a crucial lever for breaking through this challenge.
As early as December 2024, Jinbo Biotech launched its humanized collagen FAST database (COL-GPT). This database leverages vast amounts of prior R&D data and AI models to accelerate formulation innovation for recombinant humanized collagen. According to media reports, "Using AI algorithms to drive production in synthetic biology factories enables the optimization of fermentation processes for hundreds of millions of microbial communities 24/7, increasing efficiency tenfold." Furthermore, in protein structure prediction, Jinbo Biotech actively utilizes tools like AlphaFold to quickly obtain predictive results, which are then validated using synchrotron radiation X-rays to ensure data reliability. The company's initiative to "apply its self-developed 'AI Collagen Intelligence System' to promote cost reduction and efficiency enhancement across the entire enterprise lifecycle" was also selected for the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's "2025 Collection of Typical Cases in Manufacturing Digital Transformation."
The AI + collagen sector is becoming a key competitive battleground. Another leading listed collagen company, Giant Biotech, mentioned AI tools during a research briefing in March 2025. It stated that its new product, Repairive Collagen Stick 2.0, utilized AI-assisted design and high-throughput technology validation to select the optimal structural domain for recombinant collagen. Duan Zhiguang, Chief Technology Officer of Giant Biotech, stated in a media interview that machine learning can analyze and mine vast amounts of collagen sequence data, significantly boosting R&D efficiency and success rates. Simultaneously, using AI to monitor and analyze various data points in real-time during microbial fermentation can effectively improve the yield and quality stability of recombinant collagen.
Chuangjian Medical, another collagen leader, successfully had its "Application of Artificial Intelligence to Assist in the Precise Design of Recombinant Collagen" project included in the first batch of "AI + Biomanufacturing" typical cases by the National Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The company's self-developed recombinant type XVII small molecule collagen utilizes AI algorithms to optimize sequence design methods. The number of collagen sequences generated by structure prediction methods can be reduced to just 30% of conventional approaches, significantly shortening both the R&D cycle and product development timeline, thereby achieving cost reduction and efficiency gains.
Liyin Biotech, which completed a Series A funding round of over 100 million yuan in 2025, also focuses on AI + collagen. It uses AI to drive the precise design of proteins and has successfully prepared recombinant collagen with a defined triple-helix conformation. Weiming Shiguang, an AI biomanufacturing company favored by L'Oréal, uses AI to directionally design molecules that meet specific requirements, increasing the R&D efficiency for recombinant collagen by at least fivefold. Meishangjie Biotech is another leading domestic company specializing in the R&D of recombinant fusion proteins based on AI technology. It has successfully employed AI modeling for diverse editing of sequence fragments and achieved large-scale synthetic biology fermentation extraction, thus establishing a recombinant humanized protein technology platform. Additionally, the efficacy skincare sub-brand "CNBABY" under Fulaiming Biotech also utilizes AI to assist in the sequence design and optimization of recombinant humanized collagen.
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