Accunome Secures Tens of Millions in Series A3 Financing to Advance Fully Automated Molecular Diagnostic Platform

Recently, Jiaxing Accunome BIOTECHNOLOGY Company Limited announced the completion of its tens-of-millions-yuan Series A3 financing round, led by China Merchants Health, with Haoyue Capital serving as the exclusive financial advisor.

Accunome Biotechnology was founded in 2018 by Dr. Yang Xing and Dr. Xiao Guohua, seasoned entrepreneurs in the IVD and life sciences industries. The founding team boasts an average of over 20 years of R&D and management experience in IVD enterprises. The company has established R&D, GMP manufacturing, sales, and service centers in Jiaxing, Shanghai, and San Diego, USA. It is dedicated to developing a fully automated, universal molecular diagnostics platform centered on molecular diagnostics, infectious diseases, and critical care conditions.The company’s current integrated instrument-and-reagent solutions deliver the technical advantages of “sample-in, result-out,” contamination-free operation, and low cost. Targeted at clinical laboratory and emergency departments, these solutions can directly access the end-user market by leveraging existing reimbursement fee schedules. The comprehensive suite of instruments and reagents meets the market demand for medium-throughput rapid testing. Currently, the first instrument product and infectious disease detection reagents have completed development, and the company is engaging in multi-dimensional R&D and commercial channel collaborations with renowned IVD enterprises both domestically and internationally.Following this round of financing, Accunome Biotechnology will complete the regulatory registration of its fully automated molecular diagnostic instruments and conduct clinical trials for reagent kits targeting respiratory and genital tract infections, while accelerating the application of various infectious disease diagnostic reagents on its automated platform. The commercialization of its instruments and reagent kits is also poised to enter a phase of rapid growth.

Molecular diagnostics primarily targets nucleic acids and represents a new generation of testing technologies that emerged after biochemical and immunological assays. During the COVID-19 pandemic, nucleic acid testing became an indispensable technical tool, playing a critical role in combating the epidemic and safeguarding people’s lives and health. However, molecular diagnostics has long been characterized by complex workflows, involving multiple steps such as nucleic acid extraction, detection, and report generation, which require extensive manual handling. In-hospital PCR laboratories also require functional zoning, occupying significant space. Compared with traditional biochemical and immunological methods, timeliness and convenience have been major factors constraining its development. The advent of automated molecular diagnostic platforms, represented by Cepheid’s (acquired by Danaher) GeneXpert and bioMérieux’s (acquired by bioMérieux) FilmArray, has broken this impasse. These platforms enable researchers to move beyond dedicated molecular diagnostic laboratories, allowing them to complete the entire “sample in, result out” diagnostic process using a single device, thereby launching the market for automated molecular diagnostics.

After several years of development, automated molecular diagnostic technology has become a well-known and recognized testing method in clinical laboratories across developed countries in Europe and the United States. In contrast to the field of immunodiagnostics, the development of molecular diagnostics in China has been relatively lagging; multinational corporations do not hold a dominant position, nor have they captured a significant market share. This presents substantial growth opportunities for domestic molecular diagnostic companies. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 led to a surge in demand for nucleic acid testing, requiring rapid diagnostic results to facilitate timely patient isolation. The complexity and limited throughput of traditional nucleic acid testing methods failed to meet the clinical needs for managing infectious diseases, potentially leading to large-scale outbreaks and patient overcrowding. Consequently, there is an urgent market demand for fully automated, integrated nucleic acid testing platforms capable of performing sample loading, lysis, extraction, amplification, and report generation in a single workflow.

In clinical practice, high-throughput testing products from companies like Hologic, which target large tertiary hospitals, along with various low-throughput point-of-care testing (POCT) systems designed for clinical departments, still fail to fully meet the diverse needs of clinical settings. As molecular diagnostics becomes increasingly widespread across hospitals at all levels in China, there is an urgent domestic demand for mid-throughput, reagent-universal, and cost-effective fully automated nucleic acid testing instruments and reagents tailored for the laboratory medicine departments of medium-sized hospitals. This represents an emerging blue-ocean market, with Accunome standing out as a leading enterprise in this space. Accunome has launched a sample-to-result, fully automated, universal nucleic acid molecular diagnostic platform that is compatible with any sample type and any target, delivering test results within one hour. It can be widely applied in hospital clinical laboratories and emergency laboratories. The successful completion of this round of financing marks continued recognition of Accunome’s technology and products by top-tier domestic investment institutions. Accunome is poised to shine in the field of fully automated integrated molecular diagnostics, consistently providing high-quality products and services to physicians and patients in China and around the world who are in urgent need of molecular diagnostic solutions.

Dr. Yang Xing, CEO of AccunomeThe company stated that the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the widespread adoption of nucleic acid testing and expanded the diversity of clinical nucleic acid testing applications. This round of financing will be used to support clinical trials and regulatory registration for its molecular diagnostics platform and a wide range of reagent products. Accunome will continue to develop products that meet market demands, assisting clinical departments in serving public health initiatives.

Ms. Fu Jing, Chief Operating Officer of China Merchants Health“Molecular diagnostics has long been a strategic focus for China Merchants Health. We highly recognize the Accunome team’s capabilities, execution strength, and industry insight, and are pleased to participate in this round of financing. In our view, Accunome is not merely a molecular diagnostics company, but a platform-based enterprise providing clinical diagnostic and life science tools. We look forward to the company launching a series of high-quality products that meet end-user needs, thereby benefiting a broad patient population.”

Mr. Li Yishi, Partner at Haoyue Capitalstated that Haoyue Capital is honored to have assisted Accunome in securing this round of financing. It believes that continued financial support will accelerate the development and commercialization of Accunome’s products, laying a solid foundation for its global expansion.

China Merchants Health Industry Holdings Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “CM Health”), established in June 2020, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Merchants Group. As the platform company for China Merchants Group’s health industry, CM Health focuses on key priorities and challenges in the development of China’s health sector, vigorously advancing the growth of the health industry. Guided by its strategic mission of “Technology-Led, Value-Based Health,” CM Health positions itself as an “Enabler of Value-Based Health in the Digital Era.” By prioritizing the core tracks of “New Payment Models–New Technologies–Digital Health” and leveraging the dual engines of digital technology and life sciences, CM Health aims to become a pivotal force driving transformation in China’s healthcare industry.

Haoyue Capital, founded in January 2014, is committed to serving as a bridge connecting China’s healthcare sector with capital. Its research and transaction coverage spans multiple subsectors, including biopharmaceuticals, innovative medical devices, in vitro diagnostics (IVD) and precision medicine, healthcare services, and smart healthcare. The Haoyue Capital team comprises seasoned investment bankers with extensive experience in China’s healthcare industry. By closely monitoring market dynamics and investment trends in the healthcare sector over the long term, the firm releases weekly healthcare investment updates and special thematic research reports, offering Haoyue’s perspectives on new policies and emerging frontiers.