In today’s rapidly evolving world of biotechnology, where scientific breakthroughs hold the key to solving pressing global challenges, the need for streamlined solutions and cost minimization has never been more critical. In this dynamic landscape, Peter Li, the CEO of Applied Biological Materials (ABM), emerges as a visionary leader dedicated to revolutionizing the field by providing efficient, cost-effective solutions.
Peter Li’s journey in the world of biotechnology began with a profound passion for science and a desire to make a meaningful impact. Armed with a deep understanding of the industry’s potential, he founded ABM in 2004 to develop and market ready-to-use biological materials so that scientists would not have to spend time and resources developing the materials themselves.
With a strong emphasis on innovation, Peter Li has fostered a culture of excellence within ABM, encouraging a multidisciplinary approach to scientific discovery. He has spearheaded strategic partnerships and collaborations with leading academic institutions and industry experts, ensuring that ABM remains at the forefront of emerging trends and technologies. Peter Li’s visionary leadership has been instrumental in driving ABM’s growth and expansion, enabling the company to make significant contributions to the scientific community.
As a result of his outstanding achievements, Peter Li has been widely acknowledged for his contributions to the biotechnology sector. His strategic acumen and unwavering dedication to scientific advancement have positioned ABM as a global leader in life sciences.
Let’s find out how Peter Li’s vision and groundbreaking initiatives continue to shape the future of biotechnology, revolutionizing the way we understand and address complex biological challenges.
Journey to Founding ABM
After completing the Ph.D. training from Los Angeles to Toronto to join the Department of Medical Biophysics, Peter entered the biotech industry in 1999 as a Scientist at Clontech Laboratory Inc. in the Bay Area, developing adenoviral vectors. By 2003, he had been working in the Bay Area for almost four years, and he saw the biotech industry boom, inspiring him to start his biotech company.
After evaluating many different factors, he finally chose to relocate to Vancouver, Canada, and started Applied Biological Materials Inc. (ABM) with a vision to develop and market ready-to-use biological materials so that scientists would not have to spend time and resources developing the materials themselves.
Serving the case, ABM offers ready-made biological materials under the following three categories: general biological materials (PCR enzymes, transfection reagents and others), cellular materials (a curated list of specialized cell lines) and genetic materials (all cDNA, genes, siRNA, miRNA, and UTRs for each human, mouse and rat gene).
Peter’s journey of founding the company has been a humble one. Initially, he only had access to $20K in start-up funding and a 500 sq. ft. laboratory. During the first year of operation, he was the sole employee, doing everything from product development, product production and QC to business development, accounting and shipping/logistics.
Later, with funding from Industry Canada’s IRAP program (like the US small business innovation grant), he grew the company by +20% every year until the COVID-19 pandemic hit North America in 2020. Later, Applied Biological Materials created job opportunities for over 150 full-time employees pre-pandemic, with a current employee count of over 120.
Developing an R&D Strategy
Peter has always emphasized the necessity of making research and drug development easier and simpler. For instance, when it comes to COVID-19 research and drug development, there is a desperate need for COVID-19 cell lines and animal modes to aid the process. Similarly, several hot areas of R&D, such as cancer immunotherapy, gene therapy and CAR-T cell therapy, bring attention to the need for biotech research.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic specifically has the potential to impact how biotech research is conducted as a significant amount of funding resources will be placed into research on the COVID-19 virus to understand better the virus’s basic biology, epidemiology and immunology and develop better therapeutics.
“COVID-19 vaccine development will be one of the most important areas of development. Although the FDA has already approved several vaccines, there will be an ongoing effort to learn more and develop better vaccines,” says Peter.
For this reason, to the budding entrepreneurs and enthusiasts who would witness the future of biotech research, Peter suggests, “The biotech industry is thriving and full of entrepreneurial opportunities, but it also happens to be a resource-intensive area (in terms of both human and capital resources), thus developing an R&D strategy that is focused and in-sync with market demands is key to anyone who wishes to succeed in this sector.”
Drawing a Bigger Picture
As a scientist-derived entrepreneur, Peter’s interests are varied and broad, thus lacking a focus on his business operations. Therefore, he desires to develop a longer-term and bigger-picture perspective for the company – specifically when it comes to deciding the right product categories to focus on. The business could have been much more significant if he had realized his bigger picture ten years ago.
Peter is still adjusting to this new mode of thinking and has been reflecting deeply on this to ensure his business operation is well-focused in the future.
Streamlining Responsibilities and Scaling Operations
Peter aims to reach a stage where he can focus more on developing the company’s corporate strategy, with less involvement in ABM’s daily business operations. The company is thus on track to be able to scale up in the next five years. Peter believes that at this point, the key to a successful scale-up is strict product QC control and a good business development strategy.
Reaching Heights
Peter’s innovative and visionary leadership has been reflected in the heights that Applied Biological Materials have reached. Following is the testimonial proof:
“Although there are alternatives for custom lentivirus production, I have found ABM to offer the best price and service to produce high-titer lentivirus preps. If I have any special needs or concerns, they are always dealt with by the Technical Support Team. I have always been pleased with the product and will continue to use this service for my research.”
– Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, Custom Lentivirus Production
“The lentivirus packaging service is an excellent service that I highly recommend.”
– Wayne State University, High-Titer Custom Recombinant Lentivirus
“Always amazed at the reasonable prices and breadth of selection for genes of interest available on your site. Thanks very much!”
– Washington University in St. Louis, CNNM1 Adenovirus (Mouse)
