The licence of restriction enzymes to New England Biolabs, Inc.and Promega Corporation in 1990s discovered in Professor P.C. Shaw’s laboratory was among the first technology transfer activities from CUHK. Restriction enzymes are found in bacteria and they cleave DNA at well-defined sites. The restriction enzymes discovered are either heat stable or have unusual DNA recognition sequences. They are an essential tool of many molecular biology techniques including cloning, genotyping and mutation analysis. They could be acquired as is or as part of a biochemical kit.. Although the licences were for the commercial use of some rather modest enzymes, the transfer marked the beginning of a long and meaningful research relationship between CUHK and overseas commercial entities. The fact that 18 years afterwards, CUHK is still receiving royalty from these licenses means that the enzymes must have been put to good use by the wider scientific and research community, thus meeting the ultimate goal of technology transfer.

Professor Ke-Li WU of Dept of Electronic Engineering and his research team have successfully developed the world's smallest Bluetooth™ communication module under the support from the Innovation and Technology Fund (“ITF”). This integrated module is based on the Low Temperature Co-fired Ceramic (LTCC) technology. All the required passive Radio Frequency (RF) functional circuits, particularly balance-to-unbalance transformer (Balun), matching network, bandpass RF filter and antenna, are embedded into a 12-layer ceramic substrate in a 3-D fashion. The size of the module is 12 by 12 by 1 mm3 which is less than half the size of commercial modules available in the market. This patent-pending module requires much fewer surface mounted components, and could be applied to any Bluetooth™ enabled consumer wireless products including mobile phone headset, laptop computer, MP3 players and digital cameras. A number of companies have already shown interest in launching commercial Bluetooth™ modules based on Professor Wu’s innovation.

Yunzhi has long been used by the Chinese to enhance the immune system.  As proven by scientific research, the most recognized active ingredient in Yunzhi is polysaccharide, which cannot be effectively absorbed by the human intestine. Research conducted by Professor Albert Chow and his Ph.D. student Dr. Kevin Chu of the School of Pharmacy has led to the discovery of absorbable peptidoglucan (APG), a novel active ingredient in Yunzhi that can be readily absorbed by the human intestine and is effective in stimulating the immune system.  Professor Chow also developed a proprietary extraction method to enable APG to be retained in large quantities in the Yunzhi extract.  The invention, which has been granted a US Patent, was licensed to a health supplement manufacturer, which also appointed Dr. Kevin Chu as its R&D Manager. Oncozac™, a product based on the proprietary extraction method, has been launched in the market.

Insomnia is the most common sleep disorder nowadays requiring appropriate recognition and management. Because of the side-effects commonly associated with conventional drugs, herbal and other natural sleep aids are gaining popularity. However, most of the natural products available are herbal mixtures with very little understanding on their action mechanisms, and thus few are proprietary products. With the support from the Innovation and Technology Fund and Bright Future Pharmaceutical Laboratories Ltd, Professor CHAN Hsiao Chang of the Epithelial Cell Biology Research Centre and her research team has developed a proprietary natural alternative product for insomnia and other sleep related disorders. Professor Chan has employed a number of new and innovative techniques, such as molecular and cell biological techniques and electrophysiology in combination with chemical analysis, in verifying the effect of the herb. A product based on the scientific study has been launched in the market by Bright Future Pharmaceutical Laboratories Ltd.

Estrogen Replacement Therapy (ERT) is a common therapy for postmenopausal women suffering menopausal syndrome. It however is proven to increase incident of breast and ovary cancer, coronary diseases, stroke and pulmonary embolism. With the support from the Hong Kong Jockey Club Institute of Chinese Medicine (HKJCICM), Professor Jun Wang of the Biochemistry Department and Professor Hui Yong Zheng of the Shanghai Innovative Research Center of Traditional Chinese Medicine has developed GengShuAn Granule, a Fu fang Chinese medicine, based on an ancient prescription for relieving menopausal syndrome. The research team aims at submitting a new drug application to the State Food & Drug Administration (SFDA) of P R China for the new formula.

The University has licensed to Sequenom, a US listed biotech company a series of patent rights related to non-invasive prenatal genetic analysis methods using fetal nucleic acids obtained from maternal serum or plasma. The technologies are developed by Professor Dennis Y. M. Lo of the Chemical Pathology Department and his research team. Professor Lo first discovered in 1997 that an unborn fetus will release its DNA into the plasma of a pregnant woman. This finding has opened up a new approach of non-invasive prenatal diagnosis. There are a number of fetal maternal disorders that affect the mother and the fetus throughout the pregnancy period. These diseases include RhD blood group incompatibilities, Down Syndrome (Trisomy 21), Trisomy 18 and Thalassemia. However, the current tests for these disorders have the undesirable drawbacks of miscarriage and the absence of definitive diagnosis for prenatal condition. The CUHK technology answers the dream of physicians and expectant parents for a prenatal test that is specific, sensitive, non-invasive and affordable. Over the last few years, the CUHK team has published a number of significant advances in the top biomedical journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, the Lancet, Nature Medicine, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (U.S.A.). The team’s work has also been featured prominently in the 2 September 2005 issue of Science. This is an example demonstrating the world class status of research at the University as well as how industry-university collaboration can work hand in hand for the benefit of mankind.