NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – HaploX Biotechnology, a Shenzhen, China-based company focused on precision medicine and genetic data, has closed a $32 million Series A-plus financing round.
Participants in the round included SB China Venture Capital (SBCVC) and Kexin Capital, HaploX CEO and Founder Mingyan Xu said in an email. SBCVC previously led HaploX's 2016 Series A financing, which raised approximately $10 million.
Founded in 2014, HaploX aims to integrate liquid biopsy technology, gene sequencing, artificial intelligence, big data, and other technologies to improve the management of cancer patients, Xu said. According to the company's website, its technologies include tools for capturing circulating tumor DNA; extracting and amplifying ultra-low concentrations of DNA from liquid samples; performing tagged sequencing; and managing and analyzing the resulting data.
Xu said that the firm plans to use its new funds to initiate two approximately three-year-long clinical research projects. In the first effort, called the Green Lung Project, the company will sequence 100,000 patients with early- and late-stage lung cancer. And in the second initiative, called the Healthy Colorectal Project, it will sequence 100,000 patients with familial inheritance high-risk and late-stage colorectal cancer. In both cases, the company will be "covering multiple treatment time point[s] by liquid biopsy sequencing technology," Xu added.
HaploX also colaunched the Chinese Cancer Sequencing Project in 2015 along with the Shenzhen Peoples' Hospital, according to the firm's website. The project aims to build China's first large-scale cancer gene database, and covers early screening, prognosis monitoring, and individualized medicine for more than 10,000 individuals from diagnosed and high-risk groups.