Burning Rock Biotech, which was founded in 2014 and focuses on NGS (Next-Generation Sequencing) diagnostics solutions for precision medicine in oncology, today announced the closing of the Series C financing totaling RMB 850 million. The financing was led by GIC, followed by LYFE Capital, CMB International Capital, Lilly Asia Ventures (LAV), Sequoia Capital China and T&Brothers Capital. The company previously completed a RMB 300 million Series B financing in 2016 with investors Sequoia Capital, LYFE Capital, CMB International Capital and Legend Star.

The proceeds will primarily be used for early cancer detection product development and sales and marketing force expansion for the companion diagnostics business. The company currently has three core businesses: cancer patient companion diagnostics, early cancer detection, and cancer genome big data ecosystem.

In 2018, Burning Rock-CTONG laboratory was one of the first laboratories to pass the technical review of "NGS laboratory" of National Centre for Clinical Laboratories, becoming the only clinical laboratory to have obtained all three official recognitions from China's NGS laboratory authority, US CLIA and CAP. In addition, Burning Rock obtained China's first cancer NGS reagent kit approval issued by NMPA (National Medical Products Administration).

“Tumour precision medicine is based on precise diagnosis. As more and more new targeted drugs and immunotherapy are available in the market, NGS-based companion diagnostics has become essential for better cancer treatment solutions. The market has witnessed more than 100% CAGR in the past three years and the fast growth will continue in the next three years.

On the other hand, early detection is the ultimate solution if we want to extend the overall cancer survival period and improve survival quality significantly. Thanks to the development of epigenetics and NGS, Burning Rock was able to develop early detection technology using DNA methylation assay based on NGS platform more than two years ago, and some promising progress has been made since,” said Han Yusheng, founder and CEO of Burning Rock.

To date, Burning Rock has developed 32 products for different cancer types and clinical applications.

In November 2018, Roche announced the launch of FoundationOne CDx, Foundation Medicine’s comprehensive companion diagnostic test for personalised cancer care in Singapore. FoundationOne CDx supports clinicians in their decision-making by providing a clear, in-depth report that describes the unique genomic profile of a patient’s tumour as well as associated, approved therapies and relevant clinical trials.