Difference between revisions of "Team:Shanghai HS ID/Entrepreneurship"

1.1 Business Introduction

Pro-CASei is a group of high school students with diverse backgrounds but together recognized the massive, unignorable health issues that most patients surrendered to without putting much of a fight into. In comparison to other deadly diseases, hypertension, hypercholesteremia, and gastritis are chronic. Nevertheless, these conditions have become widespread but underestimated threats to the health of virtually everyone living in the information age. The moment unhealthy habits trigger these often-overlooked conditions, they linger like gum stuck to the soles of our shoes.

Aiming to resolve these health problems, which nearly skyrocketed in China in the past 15 years, Pro-CASei utilizes the naturally found lactic acid bacterium, Lactobacillus. casei (L. casei). The probiotics are vastly used to make numerous fermented products including cheese, yogurt, and other dairy beverages. L.casei is the only Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) on the market with LSEI-2094 removed, meaning that companies can edit and customize it with significantly lower costs. It allows potential customers to become much more efficient in LAB-related production. L. casei also reduce high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol, boost immunity, and prevent cardiovascular diseases or cancers. While having immense health benefits, this beneficial gut microbe only has few side effects, which scientific researchers evaluate as one of the most outstanding prospects for assessing health satisfaction.

However, the most significant hurdle encountered is the Restriction-Modification System, consisting of restriction endonuclease and the modification enzyme Methyltransferase, which restricts the expression of foreign DNA in L. casei bacteria. The LSEI-2094 gene, a core part of the system, has a pivotal role in producing the Restriction Endonuclease. Our topic is to utilize the CRISPR-Cas9 technology to remove the LSEI-2094 gene, thus enhancing the expression of foreign DNA in L.casei. We aim to obtain the new type of L.casei bacteria with a higher conversion rate of foreign DNA, eliminating waste and unnecessary steps that drive up costs and increase production times, promoting L.casei a broader application to various fields.
L.casei is a simple organism, but its potential value is priceless. We set our sights on raising public attention to the commonly neglected health issues. Through applying the CRISPR technology in the food and pharmaceutical industries, the functions of L.casei could be maximized to bring a positive impact on our daily lives.

2.1 Business Introduction

Our new strain of bacteria can address issues regarding technology and efficiency. With the absence of restriction enzyme LSEI-2094, we drastically decrease production costs and introduce higher efficiency in development and production. Additionally, we open a multitude of opportunities with our product's versatility -- pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, nutritional supplements, dairy products, etc. are all industries where our product can make a difference. Using our strain of L. casei, time and resources put into production can be further reduced while maximizing versatility and demand. The positives of our product allow companies to regulate their costs and revenues.

"0 sugar, 0 fat, 0 calories" is a popular paradigm that people follow to pursue a healthier lifestyle. In response to this demand, our strain of L.casei provides companies with a chance to adapt/sculpt L.casei to their needs. It allows them to create and design products that directly appeal to popular demand. The prevalence of three-highs and other metabolic syndromes provide us a vast potential customer base.

L. casei is not the only probiotic that is used in fields such as pharmaceuticals or dairy products. Other competitors work on L.casei. But the CRISPR-Cas9 technology is the most significant selling points. In our experiment, we used a plasmid that contains the CRISPR-Cas9 RNA to knockout designated DNA segments in the Lactobacillus Casei. Applying the CRISPR-Cas9 technology into the production process will help reduce cost and shorten production and turnaround time. According to our interview with Bright Food and Dairy director, we've acknowledged that the dairy industry is willing to incorporate our technology into their production line.

2.2 Potential threats and problems

One of the primary reasons that hinder the widespread use of transgenic
technology is how it has long been a publicly controversial topic. While scientists believe that it's an unprecedented advancement in the scientific field, others without much knowledge about the technology perceive it as ethically unacceptable and should not be applied to daily uses. At the same time, we need more funds and experiments to ensure the stability of our technology for mass production.

We decided to enter the market based on the vision that our technology and product address consumer needs. We developed the business idea because we saw that a growing number of people recognize the importance of healthy lifestyles. We will focus on B2B business at the beginning stage. We have good relationships with companies such as Bright Dairy & Food Group, Yakul, etc. Our plan is to apply for a patent for the CRISPR-Cas9 technology and license the patent to our business partners such as food production companies and pharmaceutical companies. Manufacturing a product or design can be expensive. It can also have a high level of risk. Patent licensing lets us transfer the risk to another party. We don’t have the ability to produce or distribute products on a large scale. Patent licensing help us introduce the invention to a bigger market. It can also lead to distribution around the world. We will spend a large portion of the revenue on R&D, optimizing the CRISPR-Cas9 technology and improving the conversion rate. Besides, R&D activities will underpin its ability to create products that promote good health today and in the future. The R&D pursues fundamental research life science to develop and apply new technology and ingredients in food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and other areas.

We will cooperate with our business partner and launch our own product line at the next stage. We are proud to launch a technology and quality-driven brand, offering nutritional supplements to the market. The primary target customers will be individuals who have chronic disease patients. Our products will help the customers reduce high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol, enhance immunity, and prevent cardiovascular diseases or cancers. Our main goal is to educate consumers about the benefits of L.casei. Thus, we will cater to a broader range of consumers and provide them with products to strengthen the immune system and stay healthy year-round.

Our price for the patent will be calculated based on the ‘Income Method’. The client would expect to save money due to the application of our patent. Therefore, that expected amount will be the value of our patent. We will charge a fixed percentage of the amount saved for the client.

The price for future nutritional supplements will be based on the ‘Cost Plus Method’. We will consider the total cost of making the product and add a markup to that to determine the price of our product. Our goal is to make the products available and affordable to the public.

As mentioned earlier in the executive summary and market strategies, we are confident that we can achieve aggressive market goals in different stages. We have carefully considered the market, potential customer base, and its ability to win in the market with the advanced technology and ongoing R&D input.