Berry Oncology Corp. raised $99.15 million in a series B1 financing round to expand in the early cancer screening industry as it is seeing a growing demand in the sector. This brings the total capital raised to what it says is “the highest level in China’s early cancer screening industry.” The round was led by China Merchants Capital Management Co. Ltd., along with existing investors Qiming Venture Partners and Legend Capital.
China’s ongoing efforts to tighten regulations across the board is hitting medical device companies. Two companies that issued shares in Hong Kong for the first time over the past week saw their shares tumble right out of the gate. Acotec Scientific Holdings Ltd. (HK: 6669) shares fell more than 25% on their first trading day on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Aug. 24 amid regulatory changes in China’s health care industry.
Shanghai Heartcare Medical Technology Co. Ltd. shares took a hard fall in their Aug. 20 debut on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKSE), closing at HK$129 (US$107.47) after tumbling all the way down to HK$127.8 earlier in the day.
An update from China’s NMPA clarifying registration requirements and classification methods for drug-device combination products has been welcomed by industry as the regulator seeks to keep pace with fast-moving developments in the sector.
The FDA has granted Anchordx Medical Co. Ltd.’s Urifind, an early detection test for bladder cancer, a breakthrough device designation (BTD). This marks the first BTD given to a liquid biopsy test for bladder cancer detection in China, putting it in good stead as it gears up for an IPO.
Pulse Medical Imaging Technology (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. has raised more than $100 million in a series C funding round to accelerate the R&D, clinical trials and commercialization of its products. “Pulse plans to use the funds to accelerate the commercialization of its fractional flow reserve (FFR) estimating systems,” Xiaojie Lin, marketing director of Pulse, told BioWorld. FFR is a method to measure blood pressure and flow within a coronary artery to check on the possibility that the stenosis impedes oxygen delivery to the heart muscle.
Microport Scientific Corp.’s cardiac rhythm disorders subsidiary, Microport Cardiac Rhythm Management Ltd. (Microport CRM), has confirmed agreements for a series C financing that would net it total investment proceeds of $150 million. Hillhouse Capital Group and Microport will co-lead the series C investment with investments of $20 million and $47 million, respectively.
Burning Rock Biotech Ltd. has formed a global strategic partnership with Impact Therapeutics Inc. to develop companion diagnostics for a pipeline of drugs in the field of synthetic lethality.
Around 100,000 medical professionals have registered to learn breast cancer related information through Zhongchao Inc.’s Breast Cancer Tiered Diagnosis and Treatment Improvement Platform in the first half of 2021. It marks one of the earliest efforts conducted for the Healthy China 2030 Guidelines, which aims to increase the overall five-year cancer survival rate by 15% by 2030.
Responding to the growing number of state-sponsored cyber threats to health care and other key sectors and to the compromise of the Microsoft Exchange Server, which was disclosed in March, Canada, the EU, U.K., U.S. and other NATO allies issued statements July 19 laying out expectations and markers for how responsible nations behave in cyberspace and specifically calling out China’s “malicious cyber activity.”