April 25, Hangzhou – The 9th All Blossom Conference, a forward-looking and authoritative platform for dialogue on entrepreneurship, innovation, and venture capital created by Zhejiang Province, was held in Hangzhou from April 23 to 25. The conference not only brought together leaders from technology and academia, entrepreneurs, and investors to discuss the future but also released a series of influential lists.
On the back of its standout performance in the AI-powered Life and Health sector, Westlake Pharma was named a "Hangzhou Emerging Unicorn" for the third consecutive year and, notably, secured a position on the "TOP 100 Zhejiang Future Unicorn Enterprises" list.
In addition, Dr. Yu Hongtao, co-founder and chairman of Westlake Pharma, received the 2024 Entrepreneur of the Year award. This honor not only recognizes his strategic vision and leadership but also highlights Westlake Pharma 's industry influence as a benchmark for the commercialization of university research achievements.
Building on the foundation of the past eight years, this year's conference was elevated to a provincial-level tech innovation brand event for the first time. In addition to the widely followed Hangzhou Unicorn and Emerging Unicorn Enterprises lists, the scope was expanded to the entire Zhejiang province, aiming to deeply uncover and showcase high-growth, high-potential enterprises. Among the TOP 100 Zhejiang Future Unicorns, the Life and Health sector led with 23 companies, including Westlake Pharma.
As one of China's benchmark cities for the digital economy, Hangzhou has strong momentum in the development of its AI industry. During the conference, the organizers also released the "Hangzhou AI 'Hidden Dragon' Map," which garnered widespread attention. After a careful selection process, this industrial map features 108 rising-star enterprises representing the future of Hangzhou's AI industry, categorized into three layers: foundation, technology, and application. Westlake Pharma was featured on this map as a representative of the "AI + Life and Health" industry.
From its inception, Westlake Pharma has been dedicated to exploring the application of AI in drug R&D to tackle the industry's challenges of high investment and long development cycles. Building on its deep scientific foundations, the company has launched its proprietary AI drug discovery platform, WAND, which is now fully deployed across its internal pipelines. The WAND platform deeply integrates cutting-edge AI technologies with knowledge from life sciences, material sciences, and computational sciences, and is characterized by its deep theoretical foundation, comprehensive workflow coverage, and high predictive accuracy. In practice, the platform has significantly improved the efficiency of drug R&D. Driven by AI, Westlake Pharma has already achieved several milestone R&D breakthroughs.
Under the strategic guidance of the Zhejiang provincial government's initiative to lead the development of new quality productive forces with an innovative Zhejiang and build a modern industrial system," a new wave of tech-driven enterprises is emerging across the province. They are injecting fresh momentum into high-quality economic development and improving people's lives. As a key participant in Zhejiang's innovation ecosystem, Westlake Pharma will remain true to its founding mission of protecting life through the power of science and technology, and will continue to focus on the R&D and application of key technologies, demonstrating the responsibility and commitment of a tech enterprise.