Top 10 global cancer diagnosis startup financing rankings in 2020
According to WHO data, there are about 19 million new cancer cases worldwide each year, of which about 3.93 million new cases of malignant tumors occur annually in my country. If viewed longitudinally, the morbidity and mortality rates are still rising. With the increase in life expectancy, the chance of cancer is getting higher and higher. On average, 1 in 3 people will get cancer in this lifetime. Simply speaking, cancer refers to the malignant proliferation and metastatic disease caused by the uncontrolled growth and division of cells in the body. Although various tumor treatment methods have been developed, such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy, immunotherapy, cell therapy, etc., they have not been able to treat cancer. capture. Based on the amount of financing announced by various companies in the market, Xiaosi has sorted out the TOP10 global medical equipment-cancer diagnosis circuit financing rankings in 2020, and shared the latest information on this circuit with you.
TOP 10 PathAI
PathAI is located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA and has raised more than US$90.02 million. The company’s goal is to use artificial intelligence to improve cancer diagnosis and solve challenging pathological problems in the pharmaceutical industry. At the same time, it hopes to share the technology on a global scale, thereby enabling development Residents of countries and regions can obtain more accurate medical diagnosis information. PathAI CEO Andy Baker said, “We are solving a long-standing important problem, which is to accurately diagnose the disease and use this information to effectively guide the treatment of cancer patients.” In its Phase III clinical study with its partner companies, PathAI found that compared with manual evaluation, AI-based methods can accurately quantify the expression of PD-L1 on tumors and immune cells, and effectively predict the patient’s condition.
TOP 9 Paige.AI
The full name of Paige.AI in the United States is Pathology AI Guidance Engine, and it has raised more than 95 million US dollars after two rounds of financing. Paige.AI is a start-up company that uses artificial intelligence to diagnose cancer. The company currently focuses on major cancers such as breast and prostate cancer. So far, many AI companies have deployed in the field of medical diagnosis, and Paige.ai is one of the first companies to enter the market, using AI and machine learning technology to help reduce medical diagnosis bias. Paige.ai combines proprietary clinical data sets with machine learning to explore the direction of computational pathology. It is the first AI product company approved by the US FDA to diagnose cancer.
TOP 8 Personal Genome Diagnostics
Personal Genome Diagnostics in the United States has raised more than 99.3 million US dollars to help oncologists and scientists sequence cancer genomes and identify mutations to determine tumor disease characteristics. The company focuses on next-generation high-throughput sequencing and patented algorithms to identify complex changes in the cancer genome, and develop new technologies that can be used for non-invasive “liquid biopsy” detection of cancer. Nowadays, 80% of cancer patients do not receive accurate testing, which has a negative impact on patients’ treatment decisions and prevents them from receiving accurate targeted therapy. The market needs a more convenient and economical testing product. The product PGDx elio? tissue complete developed by Personal Genome Diagnostics is the first genome-wide tumor analysis kit approved by the FDA to identify changes in tumor behavior and provide treatment decisions for patients with advanced solid tumors.
TOP 7 Epic Sciences
Epic Sciences was founded in 2008 and is located in San Diego, USA, and has raised USD 100.5 million. Epic is a medical diagnostic company dedicated to the development and identification of tumor cells in the blood. The company can provide non-medical service analysis for pharmaceutical companies to help them quickly and non-invasively detect the genetic and molecular changes in cancer. In addition, the company’s technology can not only assess the number of tumor cell subtypes in the blood circulation, but also analyze single cell phenotypes and genotypes, and provide real-time information on different cell populations before and after treatment, so that doctors can learn from hundreds of Identify and analyze tumor cells in the blood of 10,000 normal cells.
TOP 6 Mission Bio
The American company Mission Bio raised more than 110 million US dollars. At the end of October 2020, the complete Tapestri single-cell multi-omics sequencing solution was launched, which is currently the most comprehensive single-cell multi-omics platform on the market. With the help of new instruments, single-cell multi-omics kits and visualization software, it can analyze multiple substances in all hematological tumors, thereby reducing drug development time and economic costs. At the same time, the company’s first self-developed single-cell multi-omics sequencing platform can be used to discover biomarkers that can classify tumor patients and predict recurrence. Dr. Nigel Beard, Chief Technology Officer of Mission Bio, said: “With our technology, you can uncover the root cause of cancer: Our DNA protein kits provide disruptive technologies that enable our customers to understand the complexity of cancer for the first time. This is the dream of drug manufacturers.”
TOP 5 Novocure
In 2000, Professor Yoram Palti, a biophysicist at the University of Science and Technology of Israel, founded Novocure to develop new methods to treat solid tumors by using physical electric fields. While destroying tumor cells, it can still preserve healthy tissues and avoid the side effects of existing cancer treatment methods. The financing reached 165 million US dollars. At first, Professor Yoram Palti set up a laboratory in his basement to explore the potential of electric fields to treat solid tumors. The results proved that at a specific frequency, alternating electric fields can destroy the division of cancer cells and cause cancer cells to die. Electric field therapy is a completely innovative way of cancer treatment in the field of tumor treatment. At present, the Tumor Treating Fields product developed by Novocure has produced anti-mitotic effects on more than 18 solid tumors and 8 in vivo tumor models, showing great therapeutic prospects.
TOP 4 Foundation Medicine
Foundation Medicine was founded in the United States and raised $262 million in financing. Foundation’s database FoundationCore? is one of the largest cancer genome databases to date, with more than 400,000 genome data. By evaluating the genomic expression of various cancers, we can understand tumor biological behavior and molecular markers, so as to determine which treatments may be more effective for patients. At the same time, Foundation’s evaluation research helps scientific researchers and biopharmaceutical companies develop new therapies and assist in the design of better clinical trials, ultimately achieving the goal of precision medicine. Its product FoundationOne? Liquid CDx is currently the most comprehensive genomic analysis and testing product approved by the FDA.
TOP 3 Genetron Health
Genetron Health, a Chinese cancer early screening company, was established in 2016. Its growth rate and financing scale are a model for the industry. By 2019, it has raised more than 1 billion yuan in D round of financing, and subsequently raised 250 million US dollars on the Nasdaq. Early detection and treatment is the most effective way to improve the clinical outcome of cancer patients. Genetron’s proprietary technology Mutation Capsule platform based on research and development makes it a leader in the field of early cancer screening, currently focusing on early screening of lung cancer and digestive system tumors. check. At the end of September 2020, Genetron Health’s next-generation sequencing HCCscreen TM test was awarded the title of “Breakthrough Device Program” by the US FDA. The HCCscreen TM test can early detect hepatocellular carcinoma and cirrhosis caused by chronic hepatitis B infection. China is the largest market for primary liver cancer, accounting for almost half of the global incidence, so this product testing is of great significance.
TOP 2 Burning Rock Medicine
Burning Rock Medical was established in 2014, with a total financing amount of over 1.3 billion. It has been successfully listed in June 2020 and raised more than 250 million US dollars. Burning Rock Medical is an early entry into the field of early cancer screening in China. The company already has more than 32 tumor detection products. In 2018, it was approved for China’s first next-generation tumor testing technology (NGS) test kit. The company’s official website stated that this was the “First NGS Certificate for Oncology” issued by the National Medical Products Administration. In addition, the Elsa-seq technology independently developed by Burning Rock enables it to have the ability to efficiently and automatically build a database. Combined with machine learning and other technologies, it can detect low-level ctDNA in the blood of patients with early tumors.
TOP 1 Guardant Health
Guardant Health, a leading oncology precision medicine company, has raised more than US$550 million. Just like the blood drop represented in their logo, Guardant assists in the treatment of cancer through blood testing and screening and analysis of large databases. Guardant’s blood testing program can provide cancer patients with precise treatment options. In addition, Guardant has also launched cancer recurrence detection and early screening products. The company is cooperating with pharmaceutical companies to develop new tumor treatment methods in order to improve the treatment and prognosis of tumor patients. The company’s main clinical trials include colorectal cancer (ECLIPSE project), breast cancer (GRECO-Breast Cancer project) and COVID-19 (Guardant-19 project).
Summary
Through the above rankings, we found that 7 of the top 10 focus on tumor marker extraction and genetic molecular diagnosis, and are committed to cancer clinical diagnosis and auxiliary new drug development; 2 focus on AI pathological diagnosis of cancer; 1 through electric field Physical therapy treats cancer. To understand the underlying reason, many companies focus on genomics and molecular diagnosis of cancer, because the 21st century is the era of precision medicine, and patients need more personalized anti-cancer therapies to improve their survival rate and reduce the proportion of drug resistance. Cancer medical devices and molecular diagnostic circuits have always attracted the attention of the capital market. Among them, early tumor screening has the characteristics of high technical threshold, large capital investment, and long approval time. However, when its own unique technical advantages are formed or approval is passed, Can quickly open the market, and then lead the company’s rapid development. Fortunately, China’s development in this area is not bad. Gene technology companies including Burning Rock Medicine and Genetron Health have flourished and have great development prospects, leading the progress of the cancer early circuit.