Entrepreneur Special: Spreading fruits of science

Madonna to launch skincare range?

Best foot forward

Wong found that the hEGF is also valuable in medical use. It helps recovery in such case of diabetic foot ulcers, bedsores, surgical wounds, mouth ulcers, scalds and psoriasis.

Due to its high performance in promoting beauty and health, the GVN series have won the trust of consumers. Since the company was founded, more than 10 kinds of biotechnical beauty products GVN developed have rolled out from lab to market, earning it millions of HK dollars in revenue.

"To maintain a robust growth momentum, a company needs to master proprietary technologies over its product portfolio," Wong said.

Wong's successes in business are the culmination of a lifetime pursuit of science.

The entrepreneur showed an inquiring mind from a young age. A few months after he was born in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, he moved to Hong Kong with his family and received a local education.

During his pursuit of a doctorate degree in microbiology at the University of British Columbia in Canada in the 1980s, he showed a remarkable R&D capacity, which helped him earn his PhD within three and a half years as well as a job at Allelix biopharmaceuticals Inc after graduation.

While he was working at the well-known Canadian biotechnological company, he used bio-engineering methods to degrade such materials as waste paper and wood trim to glucose, which can be converted into alcohol by a process of fermentation as bio-energy to replace petroleum products.

The research has broad prospects and received wide attention in the industry. Wong published his findings on Science monthly journal and earned the company an international patent.