Unlocking the Future of Precision Medicine and Beyond

With over a decade of experience in the biotech industry, TJ Bing’s expertise lies in developing in vitro assays, biochemical and cellular assays to aid clients in drug discovery. He is currently the Head of Biology at ICE Bioscience, leading the Immuno-oncology Department.

In an exclusive interview with Life Sciences Review APAC, Bing shares his valuable insights on next-generation sequencing (NSG). He also talked about its trend, use in precision medicine, and future scope. 

What are your roles and responsibilities there at ICE Bioscience?

ICE Bioscience is a prominent bioscience company located in China. It specializes in developing and utilizing a robust bioscience platform to support pharmaceutical and drug discovery efforts. Our company boasts a sizeable workforce of over 400 skilled professionals, with my department alone comprising more than 200 individuals. Our department's primary focus is on immuno-oncology. As the Head of Biology and the Head of the Immuno-oncology Department, my responsibilities include overseeing various ongoing assays and collaborations with other biotech companies.

At ICE, we engage in target-based assay screening, which has led to the successful development of assays that have supported the company in winning project discovery. Additionally, we have established collaborations with numerous clients in China and the United States, and this year we have allocated additional resources to support drug discovery programs in overseas countries. 

What, according to you, are some of the trends inspiring in NSG?

Our company's services in this area are limited, and we rely on information from external sources. As part of our research efforts, we require target-based investigations, which necessitate sequencing data. Our capabilities include genomic, SRA (specifically RNA sequencing), and proteomics.

NSG is instrumental in our research as it allows us to access databases to identify new targets and mechanisms for our programs. Collaborations with biotechnicians and clinical teams have been established to augment our capabilities in this field. Moving forward, we anticipate the need for more comprehensive omics data beyond genomic sequencing and RNA signals to enhance our research efforts further.

What is your opinion about NSG being used for precision medicine?

As we develop drugs tailored to specific individuals, we must understand the genetic background of each patient. This requires extensive sequencing to identify relevant genes associated with heart health. With this crucial information, it is easier to prescribe the appropriate drug. We anticipate the need to identify biomarkers specific to individual patients through DNA and RNA sequencing and biomarker analysis. This will enable us to identify the appropriate patient population for new drugs. NSG is critical in our research, allowing us to identify new markers or targets for further drug discovery efforts.

What kind of research is currently being done based on NGS in China?

Several companies are heavily involved in sequencing research and development, focusing on various samples such as human, animal, and FRBs (Functional RNA Molecules). 

It goes beyond DNA and genomic sequencing, extending to RNA, including NRA (Non-coding RNA) and small RNA sequencing, contributing to extensive laboratory work involving blood analysis. Additionally, universities and institutions are researching to uncover novel mechanisms based on newly generated data.

While our collaboration with these institutions is currently limited, we recognize the importance of sequencing information in our drug discovery efforts, particularly in identifying new target molecules. Magnesium is one such target of interest. Furthermore, ongoing work in improving sequencing instruments to increase throughput, including single-cell sequencing data, is anticipated to provide substantial information in the future. With the release of new sequencing data, we may also need to develop analytical methods to handle big data, which is still being actively explored.

What, according to you, is the scope for NGS in the future?

To obtain a more comprehensive understanding of biological systems, we must gather sequence data from various sources and analyze more samples to increase our dataset. We need to collect site-dependent signals and data to identify high and low expression within tissues and to obtain state-specific information. Furthermore, we require high-throughput instruments to process data to conduct analysis efficiently. As more data becomes available, we must enhance our analysis methods and software to find useful information and correlations between the disease and the data.

In the future, biomarker analysis will continue to be critical for data interpretation, and as more data and targets become available, we will need to establish connections between them. Discovering more data, markers, and mechanisms will drive digital discovery.

What advice do you have for the upcoming biotechnicians working in the NSG space?

I acknowledge the potential of leveraging advancements in this area for various purposes, such as discovering new medicines or elucidating the relationship between diseases and their targets. To achieve these goals, it is evident that we require access to more information beyond just sequencing data. Exploring alternative approaches and techniques may be necessary to facilitate the work of scientists at a reduced cost, making sequencing data more widely available and accessible.

Additionally, the ability to conduct tests on samples using different dimensions, such as 3D or 2D, may offer valuable insights and simplify the process of developing medicines. By harnessing these advancements, we can streamline research and accelerate discoveries to benefit the scientific community and beyond.