Yu Qiang: Both innovation and poetry are expressions of the true self.

As the founder and CEO of Shengshi Taike Biopharmaceutical Technology (Suzhou) Co., Ltd., Yu Qiang has spearheaded the development of an innovative type 2 diabetes drug, saxagliptin (trade name: Shengjiwei®), which has now been approved for market launch, establishing itself as a leading domestically produced DPP-4 inhibitor. Yet perhaps even more captivating is the unique “hybrid” persona of this Peking University alumnus and U.S.-trained Ph.D.: in the lab, he meticulously refines molecular structures with rigorous precision; in his social circles, he effortlessly composes poetic verses; when recounting the nerve-wracking moments of startup financing, he delivers self-deprecating jokes with the flair of a stand-up comedian; and when reflecting on why he chose Suzhou, he reveals a delicate, almost homesick sentiment.

Yu Qiang’s story is a quintessential example of a scientist-turned-entrepreneur, yet its vividness stems from the profound interplay between personal circumstances and regional culture. He embodies the tenacity and logical rigor characteristic of a “science-minded man,” while also carrying the literary sensibility rooted in his family heritage. After completing his studies and launching his entrepreneurial journey in the United States, he ultimately chose to anchor his career in Suzhou, the picturesque water town of Jiangnan. This decision reflects both a level-headed assessment of industry opportunities and the subtle pull of cultural DNA. What piques our curiosity is this: in Suzhou—a city celebrated by scholars and poets for millennia—how does the innovation journey of a technology company become deeply intertwined with the city’s enduring “literary spirit”? And how does an entrepreneur who swears by rigorous science find fresh inspiration and resilience through dialogue with classical poetry and the aesthetic principles of traditional Chinese gardens?

Returning Home and Starting a Business: a “Mutual Pursuit”

Yu Qiang’s decision to return to China and start his own business was driven by a scientist’s simple aspiration. Around 2008, his team discovered a series of bioactive compounds targeting the diabetes-related enzyme DPP-4. “China is a country with a high prevalence of diabetes, yet its treatment capabilities remain relatively underdeveloped. I began to wonder: could I leverage the expertise I had acquired to develop high-quality, domestically produced drugs that would rival international brands?” This idea marked a pivotal turning point in his career.

At the time, he had already earned his Ph.D. from the University of Kansas in the United States and founded a company specializing in the design of novel drug precursor molecules, with his career firmly on track. Returning to China, however, meant starting from scratch. As it turned out, a chance family conversation would alter the course of his story. His niece, who worked at a pharmaceutical company in Shanghai, told him: “Suzhou Industrial Park has a ‘Leading Talent’ program—it’s truly exceptional, offering RMB 1 million in funding!” Back then, the highest comparable support available in Beijing was only RMB 100,000. “RMB 1 million—that’s a huge sum!” Yu Qiang recalled with a smile. His niece then shared a contact: the email address of a business-development representative at Suzhou Industrial Park BioBAY Co., Ltd.

While in the United States, Yu Qiang decided to send an English-language inquiry email to a staff member at the unfamiliar BioBAY. To his surprise, the reply was not only prompt and written in fluent English but also demonstrated a high level of professional expertise. “It almost sounded better than my own English,” he remarked. This first impression sparked a strong sense of curiosity about Suzhou. Shortly thereafter, at a trade show in Atlanta, he met two early members of the BioBAY team who had traveled there in a rush. They introduced him to the park’s comprehensive plan for developing the biopharmaceutical industry, and his interest was further piqued by their memorable phrase: “Seeing is believing.”

In 2009, Yu Qiang and his Peking University classmate Ding Juping traveled to Suzhou for a fact-finding visit. The first stop arranged by the park’s staff was a bowl of Aozao noodles—a down-to-earth, bustling start that immediately put Yu Qiang at ease. Although their initial impression of Suzhou was positive, launching a startup is a major undertaking, so the team went on to visit several other cities, including Shanghai, Wuhan, Changsha, and Tianjin. After careful comparison, they found that the Suzhou Industrial Park not only offers financial support and a comprehensive package of favorable policies, but also fosters a pragmatic, action-oriented business environment that truly delivers on its promises. “Here, you don’t have to rely on socializing or networking to get things done,” Yu Qiang said. For someone like him—who can fall asleep after just one or two glasses of baijiu—this was nothing short of good news.

Accordingly, in 2010, Yu Qiang and Ding Juping founded Shengshi Taikang at BioBAY, with a focus on the research and development of innovative small-molecule drugs.

The park adopts a highly rigorous selection process for leading talents; in his first year of application, Yu Qiang did not even make it to the defense stage. Undeterred, he meticulously aligned his submission with the stringent criteria and prepared thoroughly, ultimately securing his place as a “Park Science and Technology Leader” in 2011. This initial seed funding, combined with angel investment from Yuanhe Holding’s predecessor, Sino-Singapore Venture Capital, provided crucial support at a critical juncture. Subsequently, the company was successively selected for the national “12th Five-Year Plan,” “13th Five-Year Plan,” and “Major New Drug Development” special programs, placing it on the national priority support track and securing additional financial backing. As Yu Qiang jokingly puts it: “It was the park that first provided that ‘1’—only then could the ‘0s’ from private capital follow.”

The path of entrepreneurship is far from smooth. In 2015, the company faced a severe cash-flow crisis. Yu Qiang and Ding Juping not only dipped into their personal savings but also reluctantly sold a Class III innovative investigational product in their pipeline to fund the R&D of their core product. Yu Qiang once joked self-deprecatingly: “I sold the ‘younger son’—a Class III drug—to support the ‘older son’—a Class I innovative drug.” This wry humor reflects the entrepreneur’s ability to find levity even in adversity.

In Suzhou, they weathered the industry’s winter. In 2022, the company launched China’s first domestically developed teriflunomide tablet, marking its entry into the commercialization phase; by the end of 2024, senglitin, the result of more than a decade of R&D, received approval for market launch, setting a new precedent in China’s clinical-trial landscape by achieving “no Phase II, straight to Phase III” for a drug in the same class, thanks to its outstanding data. Today, Shengshi Taikang has established a strong foothold in both the diabetes and oncology fields, emerging as a solid and inspiring new benchmark in the industry.

View of Literary Style

Modern Suzhou: Many people know that you hold a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Peking University and are a successful biopharmaceutical entrepreneur, but they may not be aware that you also enjoy writing poetry and have deep ties to Suzhou. I’ve heard that you lived in Suzhou as early as age three?

Yu Qiang: Yes, it’s a long story. When I was three, my parents were so busy working at the Chinese Academy of Sciences that they “dropped” me off in Suzhou to be cared for by my aunt and my cousins. My older cousin would often complain that I’d ride on his shoulders every day, begging to go play at Tiger Hill—literally, he had to carry me! Unfortunately, I don’t remember any of this; it’s all “dark history” they’ve told me. Still, those hazy childhood impressions are like a seed: once planted, they keep growing. From elementary through middle school, and right up until I left for overseas, I kept coming back to Suzhou, and I explored its famous gardens—like the Humble Administrator’s Garden and Tiger Hill—when I was very young. So when I later started my own business and settled in Suzhou, even after receiving the Talent Garden Card, I found myself visiting these places far less often than I should have—that really feels like a waste.

Modern Suzhou: So your very first impression of Suzhou was just little bridges and flowing water?

Yu Qiang: And it was still freezing! Ever heard of a “tangpozi”? These days, young people have no idea what it is. Back in the day, it was a little copper pot you’d fill with hot water and slip under the covers to warm your hands and feet during the winter. When I was a kid growing up in Suzhou, we used one just like that—though it hardly made much difference, since we didn’t have central heating. Still, those memories are vivid and brimming with the texture of everyday life. So when my niece mentioned the Suzhou Industrial Park to me in 2009, my first reaction was: Huh? That place with its quaint little bridges, flowing streams, and lush gardens—how on earth could it possibly have anything to do with my “hardcore” work in biopharmaceuticals? I never would have imagined it.

Modern Suzhou: So what ultimately led you to decide to build your career here?

Yu Qiang: First, it’s the pragmatic aspect. I was deeply impressed by the professionalism of the park’s staff. Even the very first reply to my English email demonstrated their international standards and remarkable efficiency. As I continued to engage with them, I discovered that the team at BioBAY—and across other departments in the park—are not mere sales representatives who just go through the motions; they are true industry experts who can communicate effectively and deliver on their commitments. Lee Kuan Yew made a shrewd choice back then in selecting this location for the China–Singapore Cooperation Park. The park embodies a “walk-the-talk” spirit of contractual integrity that is truly rare nationwide. For entrepreneurs, certainty is paramount.

At a deeper level, it may be a resonance of cultural temperament. Suzhou possesses a gentle yet resilient strength. Historically, the “State of Wu,” as an institutional entity of the state, faded from the annals after nearly 700 years, yet the concept of “Wu land” and its time-honored culture have endured to this day. It did not rely on military conquest; rather, it thrived through the transmission and permeation of culture. This same quality is evident in urban development: Suzhou knows how to “borrow the scenery”—it does not operate in isolation but instead adeptly draws on Singapore’s experience to build the industrial parks we see today. In our pursuit of innovative medicines, we too must learn to “leverage external strengths” and integrate global resources.

Modern Suzhou: You mentioned “borrowed scenery,” which is a crucial design technique in Suzhou gardens. Has this classical aesthetic inspired your entrepreneurial and innovative thinking?

Yu Qiang: In a limited spatial footprint, gardens employ techniques such as winding paths that lead to secluded vistas, ever-changing views with each step, and the strategic use of borrowed scenery to conjure an infinitely rich and evocative atmosphere. This is much like developing innovative drugs: resources are always finite, especially for start-ups. How can we deliver differentiated, superior products within a compact yet elegant framework? The answer lies in meticulous design and ingenious thinking. For instance, with our senglitin, we examined the structure of DPP-4 inhibitors—the class that at the time boasted outstanding efficacy and topped global sales—and identified opportunities for optimization. It was akin to carving out a new vantage point in an already beautiful landscape. The result was a drug with stronger binding affinity, higher selectivity, and enhanced potency. This was not crude imitation; it was refined reinvention.

And then there’s “water.” Suzhou is awash with water—but it’s not stagnant; it’s connected to the Grand Canal and Lake Tai, making it living, flowing water. How much this resembles an innovation ecosystem! Capital, talent, and information must all be “living water,” constantly in motion and in constant exchange, so that they can nourish vitality. The Industrial Park has done an excellent job in this regard, cultivating a biopharmaceutical industry cluster and ecosystem—this is precisely the kind of lake that forms when “living water” converges.

Modern Suzhou: Your poetry is truly fascinating—how did you first get started? Was your family environment a factor?

Yu Qiang: Writing poetry is a skill I “was forced” to develop! Around 2017, staff from BioBAY approached me and suggested that we turn the four core values they champion—“collaboration, growth, integrity, and responsibility”—into a poem to be unveiled at that year’s client appreciation event. At the time, I was completely stumped: which of those eight words even had a hint of poetic flair? Still, I bit the bullet and gave it a shot, composing a hidden-verse poem. Once I finished, I found it rather amusing—and from that moment on, I just couldn’t stop.

When it comes to the influence of family atmosphere, there’s no doubt it plays a significant role. My grandfather was a veteran revolutionary and a man of culture who even published a collection of poems. My father, by contrast, wasn’t very good at writing in traditional Chinese calligraphy, and as a child he often got beaten by my grandfather for it—this, in turn, made my father quite strict with me. In fact, our family has always had a strong cultural heritage; perhaps the most widely known figure is my maternal uncle, Mr. Wu Mi. Maybe these cultural genes have been quietly embedded in my very being all along—only later, in Suzhou and at BioBAY, were they inadvertently “activated” by colleagues who not only understand the industry but also know how to live well.

Modern Suzhou: In your view, do poetry and innovative pharmaceuticals have anything in common?

Yu Qiang: I believe the underlying principles are universal: they all revolve around “creation” and “aesthetic appeal.” My father taught me early on that when writing poetry, one should strive to avoid repeating words—such repetition reveals a limited vocabulary. This instilled in me a relentless pursuit of “simplicity and precision” as well as “richness.” The same holds true for drug molecule design: you can’t just cobble together random components; the design must adhere to established chemical principles and spatial constraints, and the final molecule must possess an intrinsic harmony and beauty.

During my years in the Department of Chemistry at Peking University, I came to realize a fundamental truth: the aesthetics of this world are unified. In scientific problems, the correct answers are often simple, elegant numbers—such as 0, 1, or π. If the numerical result of a calculation jumps around erratically or seems bizarre and unconventional, it is very likely that I have made a mistake. Similarly, in drug molecule design, we search through a vast array of possibilities for the solution that is not only the most effective and safest but also the most “elegant.” Just as poetry creates an artistic mood through language, drugs build hope through molecular interactions; both demand imagination—and even more so, rigorous discipline.

Modern Suzhou: Do you believe Suzhou’s rich cultural heritage, particularly its tradition of valuing education and scholarship, has a positive impact on today’s business environment?

Yu Qiang: The impact is profound—deep-rooted and ingrained. It imbues local government leaders and staff with a distinctly “cultured” ethos: they are more rational, honor their commitments, and think in the long term. They are not merely administrators; in many ways, they are partners or even friends. This kind of environment makes someone like me—someone from a research background who is not particularly adept at socializing—feel thoroughly at ease.

Suzhou is also welcoming and inclusive. Although I have relatives in Suzhou, I don’t speak the Suzhou dialect. Yet here, you won’t be discriminated against for not speaking a local dialect. Suzhou embodies an open, embracing spirit of inclusiveness: as long as you come to get things done, you’re always welcome. This is crucial for attracting talent from all over the world.

Moreover, as you can see, Fan Zhongyan founded the Prefectural Academy in Suzhou—this institution was the precursor to today’s Suzhou High School. This tradition of valuing education and cultivating talent has been passed down through the ages. Suzhou High School has produced countless outstanding individuals, demonstrating that a city’s true long-term competitiveness lies in its people and its culture. This principle is entirely consistent with how we approach industrial innovation today: competing on talent and on fostering a vibrant innovation ecosystem. When the government creates an enabling environment—much like tending a garden by carefully planning the soil, water supply, and landscape—noble trees and fine talents will naturally flourish.

Finally:

When saxagliptin tablets were approved for marketing in China, Yu Qiang penned a poem: “Saxi trees sing heavenly melodies; colorful hues grace the hall of honor. Morning light bathes the misty shores, as a prosperous age welcomes the rising sun.” Over the past decade and more, Shengshi Taikang has grown like a tree, firmly rooted in the fertile soil of Suzhou, basking in the city’s cultural spirit and the favorable policies that have nurtured its development. Its ultimate goal is to ensure that the fruits of innovation ascend to the altar of health, bringing benefits to patients. This, perhaps, best captures the true essence of the bond between Yu Qiang, Suzhou, and this very mission.

TIPS: Two Poems

· In 2025, the company’s core product—the next-generation DPP-4 inhibitor, senglitin—will make its market debut. Looking back on senglitin’s long journey from laboratory research and development to final commercial launch, all words and thoughts converge in our hearts. We have composed an original four-six parallel prose piece to pay tribute to these years of striving toward the light, and to express our gratitude to the investors, local government, partners, and our beloved employees who have accompanied us every step of the way:

Walking through the long night, I look around to find only boundless desolation;

The wind withers the noble trees; the rain strikes the solitary blossom.

Only by treading on thorns do we know the pain; only by wading into a frigid abyss do we feel the chill.

With the resolve of a child in the “total horn” stage, I would not regret even if I were to die nine times.

A pure, innocent heart grows ever more radiant through countless trials.

In every journey through mountains and waters, there is always a bright candle to light the way;

Through countless trials and tribulations, we may find a helping hand on the brink of disaster.

Nothing in this world is warmer than a firewood in the snow.

The orchid cream has not yet run out, and the pure heart remains.

May I be the spring mud, nurturing the blossoms as they bloom in unison;

Willingly serving as a pillar, bearing the mighty torrent of countless generations.

All because Your Grace is as boundless as the sea—how dare we not devote our very lives in return?

— Yu Qiang, CEO of Shengshi Tech

· A letter to my Peking University brothers who co-founded a business with me in Suzhou:

What fear of the northern wind’s chill, when the great bow is drawn to shoot the eagle?

On the battlefield, heroes stand side by side; banners and flags unfurl beyond the gates.

Only by enduring the hardships of starting a business can one see their new dreams come true.

Let the blazing sun shine upon my azure collar.

— Yu Qiang, CEO of Shengshi Tech

Reporter | Xiang Yu

Editor | Xia Tian

Re-examination | Cheng Cheng

Final Review | Li Zhen