Chinese venture capital firm Qiming Venture Partners has led a US$20 million financing round in New Horizon Health, a Chinese precision health start-up focused on developing early-stage cancer screening technologies.
Chinese investment firms Legend Capital, SoftBank China and other unnamed investors also participated in the round, which will be used to finance New Horizon Health's research and development of early-stage cancer screening products with a focus on gastrointestinal cancer. The company will also strive to establish big data and artificial intelligence capabilities to aid its development of next-generation cancer screening tech, according to a company announcement.
In 2015, 4.3 million new cancer cases were recorded and 2.8 million people died from cancer in China. China accounts for 22% of the world's new cancer cases and 27% of cancer death. Around 12,000 people are diagnosed with cancer and 7,700 people die from cancer each day in China. Lung cancer, stomach cancer, oesophageal cancer and liver cancer were the most deadly, taking up 57% of all cancer cases, according to data from China's National Cancer Center.
Founded in 2015, New Horizon Health has completed development of its first early screen of colorectal cancer products based on fecal gene analysis (FIT-DNA) technology. The product allows users to sample at home to discover signs of colon cancer and progress adenomas with a diameter greater than one centimeter. This technique could allow patients to detect precancerous lesions five years earlier than regular blood tests, and therefore improve the chance of full recovery via simple colonoscopy.
Based on similar technology, New Horizon Health launched a new gastric cancer detection technology and a combined gastrointestinal cancer detection products earlier this year.
"New Horizon Health is an innovative bio-pharmaceutical technology company focused on early screen and detection services for high frequency cancer in China," said Nisa Leung, managing partner at Qiming Venture. "We are optimistic about the future of this company founded by the best bio-pharmaceutical experts from China and the U.S., and we believe that it will become a leading brand in the cancer screening market."
New Horizon Health, with offices in Beijing and Hangzhou, previously completed a series A round from Legend Capital, SoftBank China and others in 2016.
