Westlake University Photo: westlake.edu.cn

Westlake University, China's first private research university, successfully hatched a company recently, domestic news site hangzhou.com.cn reported on Tuesday.

Westlake Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company that focuses on cell treatment, became the first result of the university's in-house hatch program, which aims to convert the fruits of scientific research into marketable products.

In just nine months, Westlake Therapeutics raised nearly 100 million yuan ($14 million) in its pre-A financing round, which the report said is a vote of confidence from the capital market. Investors include the capital management arm of Tianjin-based pan-health firm Tasly Group.

The commercialization rate of patents by Chinese research institutes and universities is less than five percent, the report said, citing data.

In contrast, Stanford University in the US converted and commercialized 40 percent of its patents in 2011.

Inaugurated in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province in October 2018, Westlake University aims to be a frontrunner in China's higher-education reform and bridging the university-industry gap. Chinese media outlets sometimes dub it as "the Stanford in the East."

Global Times