About
Introduction to the BAXCO Center for Advanced Bioactive Exploration
A Personal History
from our Founder, Dennis Wong
I was only two in 1975 when my family was suddenly uprooted from our ancestral home, refuges displaced, like so many others after the Fall of Saigon. Reduced to relying on overloaded and rickety vessels setting sail on perilous sea journeys to new worlds then unknown. We were among the lucky ones.
It was December 1978 when we got to America. I was five and remember little before then. It was my parents who carried the traumas of that time with them and the sweet memories too of a past long gone but never quite forgotten as well as this unsinkable spirit of hope. They are extraordinary people my parents. True pioneers. True founders. My original role models. Instilling within me and my siblings a fascination for the new and an intense curiosity, both ambition and humility, some courage and confidence too, a solid work ethic and, most of all, a deep sense of gratitude and empathy.
In 1996, my dad and I started a business that consisted of putting fish oils in capsules and packaging and selling them to mostly Vietnamese families in the neighborhood for which fish oil was a key staple in maintaining good health. It paid the bills. Little did we know that we were early in on a groundswell of popularity in Asian medicine and natural supplementation catching on well beyond our community. Or that our kitchen table “startup” would be the launch pad for BAXCO Pharmaceutical, a successful and established local co-packing nutraceutical business in the San Gabriel Valley., that, as CEO, I would transform into a leading dietary supplement formulations and fulfillment center for leading global brands a decade later.
That was then. Today we have encapsulated these decades of experience, expertise, insight and industry relationships into a Next Generation BAXCO – from nutraceutical ingredient manufacturer to scientific research and discovery center dedicated to bringing most promising new breakthroughs in advanced, biomedical technology from natural sources to light in the public square.
This is our final transformation. From product fulfillment store to idea store. Where the best minds behind the best practices in this domain now may share and enrich the conversation and, thereby, further accelerate the rate of discovery for this vital category central to human health and wellness.
That’s the vision behind the BAXCO Center. To give the most consequential breakthroughs in next-level, plant-based, biomedical technology a voice. A platform where the mission is to cultivate that insight and to accelerate discovery fit for the most humane of purposes such as combating nutritional insecurity for at risk populations around the world…through the WONG Foundation, our NGO, as well as through other worthy organizations.
That, as I see it, is my purpose in this life and the gift that I have been given. It is the force driving me and my leadership team. Shared not too long ago in the great scheme of themes with Sharon. My late wife, mother to our three daughters and still my guiding light and spiritual compass in this life. To me, there is nothing more important. I hope it touches you as well.