GeneSeeQ and AstraZeneca Announce Strategic Collaboration to Establish Guangzhou Center for Innovative Diagnostics and Advance Comprehensive Cancer Care

On April 23, the AstraZeneca China Ecosystem Conference held its opening ceremony and 12 parallel forums in Wuxi under the theme “Innovate · Preview the Future.” The event covered key therapeutic areas including oncology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, gastroenterology, respiratory diseases, and renal diseases, and facilitated multiple landmark collaborations with partners across government, industry, academia, research institutions, healthcare, and investment sectors.

Lei Wang, Executive Vice President of AstraZeneca and President of International Business and China, attended the conference and delivered a speech. He introduced that in the field of precision diagnostics, AstraZeneca has formed a strong partnership with Nanjing Shihe Gene Biotechnology Co., Ltd. to jointly establish a Center for Innovation in Biological Diagnostics in Guangzhou. The center will carry out various activities, including clinical testing, collaborative research and development, and external training, to jointly promote the further development of precision diagnostics.

Subsequently, the “AstraZeneca–Shihe Gene Guangzhou Bio-Diagnostic Innovation Center Strategic Cooperation Signing Ceremony” was held at the conference venue. Through this strategic partnership, Shihe Gene’s technological R&D strengths in precision medical diagnostics are fully integrated with AstraZeneca’s comprehensive, patient-centric, innovative integrated diagnosis-and-treatment solutions spanning disease diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation in oncology, respiratory diseases, and other fields, thereby strengthening collaborative development of precision diagnostic products. Both parties will also explore cooperation on Guangzhou International Bio Island to establish a clinical laboratory and a joint research platform.

(From left to right: Yang Haiying, Vice President of AstraZeneca China and Head of Medical Affairs; Lai Minglong, General Manager of AstraZeneca China; Shao Yang, Founder and CEO of Geneseeq; Wang Xiaonan, Co-founder and CTO of Geneseeq; Yin Min, General Manager of Oncology Business Unit at AstraZeneca China; Zhao Minchao, Co-founder and COO of Geneseeq)

Dr. Shao Yang, Founder and CEO of Geneseeq, was invited to deliver a keynote speech titled “Application of Liquid Biopsy Technology in the Full-Course Management of Tumors” at the conference.

Nanjing Shihe Gene Biotechnology Co., Ltd. has been established for over seven years. Initially, the company focused on advanced-stage tumors, addressing the pressing need for companion diagnostics in this area. Shihe Gene has made significant contributions to both immunotherapy and targeted therapy. Dr. Shao Yang stated, “To deliver greater benefits to patients, the future direction must involve comprehensive cancer management throughout the entire disease course. This includes perioperative management for early- and mid-stage cancers, as well as early screening. I believe that only through such holistic management can we maximize patient benefits. Achieving this requires multi-party collaboration, which I trust is one of the key themes of today’s AstraZeneca conference.”

Currently, companion diagnostics have been incorporated into the requirements of the Center for Medical Device Evaluation (CMDE), and the Chinese government supports the use of companion diagnostics to facilitate the development of new targeted therapies. In 2018, Geneseeq’s independently developed six-gene lung cancer test kit was approved by the CMDE for market launch as an innovative medical device, marking the transition of Geneseeq’s testing technology from a service-based model to productization, standardization, and large-scale implementation.

In the field of advanced-stage tumors, Nanjing Shihe Gene Biotechnology Co., Ltd. has adopted a multi-pronged approach, with its pipeline products under development and registration including the 425-gene large panel kit and others.

In the management of early- and mid-stage tumors, Geneseeq has launched the ShuNing SHIELDING™ perioperative comprehensive management MRD testing panel for solid tumors. By leveraging dynamic MRD monitoring, this solution aims to achieve comprehensive perioperative management through guiding adjuvant therapy, predicting prognosis, stratifying recurrence risk, and enabling dynamic surveillance for recurrence, thereby benefiting a greater number of patients with early- and mid-stage disease.

Strengthening early cancer screening and increasing the proportion of patients diagnosed at an early stage can effectively extend overall survival and reduce the economic burden on patients’ families and society. Therefore, early screening and diagnosis have become key components in the fight against cancer. Geneseeq has independently developed MERCURY, a multi-omics-based early cancer screening model that integrates liquid biopsy, copy number variation (CNV) analysis, methylation analysis, and Geneseeq’s proprietary NOAH algorithm, delivering significantly improved performance compared to traditional early screening technologies. Preliminary validation conducted in collaboration with research teams from Zhongshan Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, and Jiangsu Cancer Hospital demonstrated that, in the early detection of liver, colorectal, and lung cancers, the MERCURY model achieves a sensitivity of 80%–95% at a specificity of 98%.

In 2020, Nanjing Shihe Gene Biotechnology Co., Ltd. launched a large-scale early screening study named the “Jinling Cohort.” This study is expected to prospectively enroll 100,000 participants with a five-year follow-up period, aiming to validate the application of Shihe’s MERCURY multi-omics liquid biopsy technology in early cancer screening. Participating institutions include the Nanjing Jiangbei New Area, the team led by Academician Shen Hongbing from Nanjing Medical University, and the National Health and Medical Big Data Center, among others.

Following the establishment of a strategic partnership with AstraZeneca, Geneseeq’s Southern Center has been established in Guangzhou, completing its nationwide layout of four major core laboratories in Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, and Guangzhou. In its future strategic planning for the Southern Center, Geneseeq will accelerate the “co-development of drugs and diagnostics” in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, aiming to join forces with AstraZeneca to achieve win-win cooperation through strong collaboration.

GENESEEQ

Dedicated to Precision Molecular Testing in Clinical Oncology and Clinical Translational Research

Dedicated to Providing One-Stop NGS Platform Solutions for Hospitals

Holding three internationally recognized accreditations: CAP, CLIA, and ISO 15189

Certification Services Covering Tumor Tissue and Liquid Biopsy

Clinical Testing Services > 8 Years

>500 Partner Tertiary Grade A Hospitals / Specialized Oncology Hospitals

Accumulated Chinese tumor NGS genomic database with >420,000 cases

Cumulative publication of >260 SCI articles

Cumulative Impact Factor (IF) >1700

The self-developed “EGFR/ALK/ROS1/BRAF/KRAS/HER2 Gene Mutation Detection Kit (Reversible Terminator Sequencing Method)” (NMPA Registration No. 20183400408) was approved for market launch by the NMPA in September 2018, providing comprehensive guidance for targeted therapy in lung cancer with a sensitivity as high as 1%.