Zhongjing Medicine Completes Tens of Millions RMB Pre-A Financing to Advance Urine-Based Precision Diagnostics for Urothelial Carcinoma in China

VCBeat has learned that Qingdao Zhongjing Puhui Medical Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Zhongjing Medical”) recently announced the completion of its Pre-A financing round, amounting to tens of millions of yuan. This round was jointly invested by Shanghai Yunze Jinwo and Beijing Fanzhi Medical. The funds will be primarily used to accelerate the research and development, clinical trials, regulatory registration, and market promotion of Zhongjing Medical’s products, including its non-invasive in vitro diagnostic kit for urothelial carcinoma based on urine samples.

Zongjing Medicine was established in February 2021, dedicated to creating precision medical testing and health management solutions based on multi-omics analysis of urine from the Chinese population. The company is headquartered in Qingdao, with a research and development center in Beijing. The founding team possesses extensive experience in R&D, operations, and marketing within the fields of medical laboratory services and in vitro diagnostics, including senior executive tenure at renowned domestic and international pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies such as Bayer Healthcare, Zhongke Gene, and MeiNian Genomics. Zongjing Medicine has established in-depth collaborations with leading medical institutions and prominent health industry organizations, including Peking University First Hospital, Minzhong Health Checkup, and Haier Biotechnology.

Building on the UC Grasp platform, Zhongjing Medicine has innovatively launched the “U-health Urine Health Initiative.” This initiative will progressively establish a comprehensive precision urine medicine solution system, encompassing rapid urine testing devices, non-invasive urine diagnostic reagents, and an AI-powered urine health data analytics system. The “U-health Urine Health Initiative” leverages urine samples to enable advanced, non-invasive, and widely accessible precision diagnosis, treatment, and health risk screening for various diseases, thereby facilitating early detection, diagnosis, and intervention.

Due to its unique physiological roles, urine often exhibits significant variability across different individuals and at different stages within the same individual. Urine can reflect numerous physiological changes in the body, particularly during the early stages of certain diseases, where it sensitively indicates abnormal physiological alterations.^【1】In light of this, Zhongjing Medicine has assembled clinical and basic research scholars from Peking University First Hospital and the Ocean University of China to jointly establish a technological foundation for the translation of innovations in the urine health industry. By conducting in-depth analyses of the urinary genome, transcriptome, and proteome, and integrating the clinical characteristics of diseases in the Chinese population, the company is progressively building a comprehensive urine health database, thereby developing a range of precision medicine diagnostic products based on urine analysis.

Urothelial carcinoma, represented by bladder cancer, is the most prevalent malignant tumor in the urinary system. In China, the primary high-risk populations include adults aged 60 and above (over 260 million people), smokers (over 301 million people), and truck drivers (approximately 17.28 million people). According to the 2020 global cancer statistics, bladder cancer accounted for 4.4% of new malignant tumor cases in men, ranking sixth.^【2】According to the research findings of the "National Cancer Center: 2022 National Cancer Report," the annual number of new bladder cancer cases in China exceeded 82,000. Data from 2000 to 2016 indicate that the incidence rate of bladder cancer among Chinese males has shown an upward trend.^【3】。

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In response to the current clinical landscape where auxiliary diagnosis of urothelial carcinoma relies on pathological examination and lacks precise, non-invasive diagnostic tests, the expert team at Zongjing Medicine has developed a multi-gene methylation-based risk assessment scheme for urothelial carcinoma development (UC Grasp; Chinese name: Youxige), grounded in years of research and epigenetic data. Preliminary clinical performance testing has demonstrated that this scheme achieves an auxiliary diagnostic efficacy with 90% sensitivity and 81.8% specificity for urothelial carcinoma.

This round of financing will facilitate the industrial translation of this testing solution into in vitro diagnostic (IVD) kits, providing a more objective, accurate, and standardized non-invasive adjunctive diagnostic solution for the clinical diagnosis of urothelial carcinoma.

In the future, Zongjing Medicine will also provide a closed-loop, non-invasive clinical solution for urothelial carcinoma, covering auxiliary diagnosis, molecular subtyping, dynamic monitoring, high-risk screening, and companion diagnostics.

Shanghai Yunze Jinwo Private Equity Fund Management Co., Ltd., established in 2021, conducts its business in accordance with national policies and legal regulations. It is a fund management company specializing in private equity investment funds. The company actively adopts an operational model integrating “fund + investment banking + listed companies” to nurture, invest in, and acquire high-quality enterprises.

The company is dedicated to the fundraising, investment, management, and exit of venture capital and industrial funds in sectors such as high-end equipment, intelligent manufacturing, new energy, new materials, general health, and digital technology; it integrates industrial resources to collaborate with listed companies on merger and acquisition funds; and it partners with industry leaders, central state-owned enterprises, and local state-owned enterprises to establish equity investment funds.

Beijing Fanzhi Medical Technology Co., Ltd. is a globally operating biopharmaceutical enterprise founded by senior overseas-returned scientists, researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and clinical experts. Adhering to independent research and development, it is one of the few specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative enterprises in China’s nucleic acid testing sector with in-house development capabilities across four foundational technologies: nucleic acids, chips, mechanics, and software. The company boasts strong R&D strength, having successively overcome high-end import substitution challenges in nucleic acid testing systems, achieved localization of core key raw materials, and resolved issues related to integrated rapid detection chips. It has established four advanced foundational technology development platforms in the field of nucleic acid testing, enhancing its capacity for product iteration and diversification. Through steadfast commitment to and innovation in foundational technologies, the company has not only achieved import substitution but also gained the potential to compete internationally. It currently holds over 100 patents and related intellectual property rights, with its technological prowess reaching an internationally advanced level.

References:

[1] Jing Jian, Gao Youhe. Exploration of Urine as a Source of Novel Biomarkers[J]. Progress in Biochemistry and Biophysics, 2016, 43(11): 1019-1028.

【2】 Sung H, Ferlay J, Siegel RL, et al. Global Cancer Statistics 2020: GLOBOCAN Estimates of Incidence and Mortality Worldwide for 36 Cancers in 185 Countries[J]. CA Cancer J Clin. 2021;71(3):209-249.

【3】CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, First published: 04 February 2021, DOI: (10.3322/caac.21660)