MiRXES Secures $87M Series C Funding to Advance miRNA-Based Multi-Cancer Early Detection Platforms

Recently, MiRXES, a cancer early screening technology company, announced the completion of an $87 million Series C financing round. The round was led by China Resources Zhengda Life Science Fund, with participation from prominent investors including Rock Springs Capital, EDBI (a wholly owned subsidiary of the Singapore Economic Development Board), CCB International, KeyTone Ventures, TOTAL AMPLE LIMITED, and Nuohui Venture Capital. Tengda Capital served as the exclusive financial advisor for this financing round.

MiRui is a high-tech biotechnology company specializing in microRNA (“miRNA”) technology and dedicated to early disease diagnosis. Its product pipeline covers common high-incidence cancers, while also expanding into diagnostic products for cardiovascular, metabolic, and infectious diseases. MiRui has established a comprehensive business ecosystem in Singapore and China, encompassing research and development, manufacturing, commercialization, and medical laboratory services, and has set up marketing teams in the United States and Japan. Since its establishment in 2014, MiRui has secured a total of $130 million in funding. This round of financing will be used to accelerate the R&D and clinical regulatory submissions of its cancer early screening product pipeline globally, and to drive the commercial deployment of its early screening products and services.

In 2019, GASTROClear™, the world’s first serum-based molecular diagnostic kit for gastric cancer independently developed by MiRXES, was approved for market launch in Singapore. In the same year, MiRXES was included in the “Global Liquid Biopsy Innovators List” selected by Nature Biotechnology, standing as the only Asian company and the sole miRNA technology platform enterprise on the list.

GASTROClear: The World’s First Serum-Based Molecular Diagnostic Kit for Gastric Cancer^TM

Regarding this round of financing, Dr. Zhou Lihan, Co-founder and CEO of MiRXES, stated, “We are honored to receive strong support from our investors, who have placed full trust and confidence in the company’s technological value and commercial potential. Following this new round of financing, MiRXES will accelerate the R&D progress of its pipeline for the early diagnosis of cancers, including gastric, lung, colorectal, liver, breast, and pancreatic cancers. Meanwhile, the company plans to leverage the advantages of its self-developed miRNA technology platform to expand into research and clinical diagnostic applications for cardiovascular, metabolic, and infectious diseases on a global scale.” In early 2020, in response to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic raging worldwide, MiRXES leveraged its industry-leading nucleic acid technology platform and comprehensive production system to participate in the R&D and manufacturing of Fortitude, Singapore’s first COVID-19 nucleic acid PCR test kit.^TM, making outstanding contributions to local epidemic control.

MiRui’s core technology detects the expression levels of cancer-specific miRNA combinations in blood, integrates characteristics of other molecular markers released into the circulation by cancer and immune cells, and employs its proprietary algorithms to generate a cancer risk score. This approach provides an indication of cancer risk and enables early cancer diagnosis. Dr. Zhou Lihan pointed out, “Based on MiRui’s independently developed miRNA technology platform and algorithms, we typically select a combination of 8–12 miRNAs as diagnostic markers when developing diagnostic products for different diseases.” Currently, MiRui has collaborated with leading research and clinical institutions in China, Singapore, the United States, Italy, Japan, and other countries and regions to conduct large-scale clinical studies on lung cancer, colorectal cancer, liver cancer, breast cancer, and pancreatic cancer, enrolling a total of more than 30,000 participants.

“Our pan-cancer screening strategy involves conducting separate tests for each specific cancer type. For each cancer, we develop tailored clinical registration protocols and, upon approval by regulatory authorities, launch and promote the product in the market,” introduced Dr. Zhou Lihan. “For scenarios involving multi-cancer testing within laboratories or public-facing multi-cancer screening programs, it is entirely feasible to simultaneously detect multiple cancers from a single blood draw.”

In early 2022, MiRui will launch the GASTROClea kit for early gastric cancer screening^rTMA prospective clinical trial for NMPA registration in China is planned to enroll 12,000 asymptomatic individuals at high risk for gastric cancer to conduct clinical validation of the kit’s performance. Meanwhile, MiRui will also advance the PMDA registration application for its gastric cancer early screening kit in Japan. Previously, GASTROClear^TMIt has been approved for marketing in Singapore.

In addition, MiRui plans to launch a miRNA test kit for lung cancer diagnosis and is currently conducting a clinical validation trial with 600 cases. In 2022, MiRui will roll out laboratory-developed test (LDT) services for lung cancer screening in Japan while simultaneously exploring market opportunities for lung cancer testing in the United States.

In the Chinese market, MiRui has already established a diagnostic product pipeline covering multiple cancer types, including gastric and lung cancers. Looking ahead, MiRui will actively pursue commercialization opportunities in China to facilitate the local deployment of its early screening products and services.

As the company experiences rapid growth, MiRui will continue to advance team building and talent development, prioritizing the expansion of its R&D and algorithm teams as a core component of its talent strategy. The overall team size is projected to reach approximately 400 employees within two years, thereby providing robust support for the company’s accelerated development.

Founded in 2014, MiRXES is a high-tech biotechnology company specializing in microRNA (“miRNA”) technology and dedicated to the early diagnosis of diseases. Its product pipeline covers common high-incidence cancers, while also encompassing diagnostic products for cardiovascular, metabolic, and infectious diseases. MiRXES has established a comprehensive business operation system in Singapore and China, covering research and development, manufacturing, commercialization, and medical laboratory services, and has set up marketing teams in the United States and Japan. In 2019, GASTROClear, the world’s first serum-based molecular diagnostic kit for gastric cancer, was independently developed by MiRXES.^TMIt has already been approved for marketing in Singapore. MiRui was also selected in 2019 for the “Global Liquid Biopsy Innovative Companies List” by Nature Biotechnology magazine, being the only Asian company on the list and the sole miRNA technology platform enterprise among those listed.