Alibaba leads Series D for China cancer test kit business
Guangzhou-based Creative Biosciences, which manufacturers kits that test for colon cancer, has raised a RMB560 million ($88 million) Series D led by Alibaba Group.
Other investors include Huaxing Growth Capital, Co-Stone Asset Management, ABC International, Henglu Asset Management. Existing backer IDG Capital re-upped.
Founded in 2015, CreativeBio specializes in fecal DNA testing, but it has expanded into early detection of lung, bladder, cervical, and liver cancers. The company has four testing labs based in Guangzhou, Tianjin, Wuhan, and Jinan.
The company's flagship product is Colosafe, a colorectal cancer testing kit approved for commercialization in China in 2018. It is now available in 600 medical institutions, including 300 top-tier hospitals. More than 200,000 tests have been carried out to date, helping detect many cases of cancer and precancerous lesions.
CreativeBio claimed in a statement that Colosafe plays a leading role in colorectal cancer screening and is considered an industry benchmark.
The company raised a $20 million angel round in 2015 from Suzhou Industrial Park Bioventure. This was followed by a $15 million Series A in 2017 from Qianhai Fund of Funds and CD Capital, according to AVCJ Research. CDH and IDG led a RMB300 million Series B in 2019 and then China Tsing Song Investment led a RMB600 million Series C last year.
In the cancer early screening space, New Horizon Health realized a HK$2 billion ($258 million) Hong Kong IPO in February. The company also focuses on colorectal cancer screening but targets household users. It claims the first self-conducted fecal immunochemical test product to win regulatory approval in China.
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