NohOncology Secures $20 Million Series D Funding to Accelerate Leadership in At-Home Cancer Early Screening

VCBeat has learned that on April 21, 2020, New Horizon Health, a pioneer in the field of early cancer screening in China, announced the completion of its $20 million Series D financing round. The round was led by Omniscience Capital, a private equity fund focused on healthcare investments, and participated by existing shareholders Qiming Venture Partners, SoftBank China, and Duke University Management Company, as well as U.S. healthcare fund Exome Asset Management.

Zhu Yeqing, Co-founder and CEO of New Horizon Health, stated that,The proceeds from this round of financing will be used to develop new product pipelines, sustain investment in large-scale clinical studies, further upgrade service systems, and strengthen brand building, with the aim of maintaining a leading position in the field of early cancer screening.

To date, New Horizon Health has secured cumulative investments exceeding $130 million, making it the most heavily funded enterprise in China’s early cancer screening industry. With this capital injection, the competitive landscape of the early cancer screening sector has largely taken shape. Leveraging its early market entry, rapid growth, and strong market momentum, New Horizon Health has further solidified its position as the industry leader.

New Horizon Health Financing Overview

"Over the past seven years, New Horizon Health has launched a portfolio of at-home early screening products for colorectal, cervical, gastric, and lung cancers. The company has established a robust academic foundation, a comprehensive service ecosystem, and a powerful marketing system. With its annual revenue growing year over year, New Horizon Health has emerged as a leader in the field of cancer early screening."In the field of early screening for colorectal cancer alone, its market share exceeds 90%.Highly favored by the capital market.

In recent years, the narrative of a “capital winter” has intensified, and the sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 further chilled financing prospects for many enterprises. New Horizon Health, with its first-mover advantage, established comprehensive barriers to entry, and long-term value, has instilled sufficient confidence in the capital markets. Discussing the reasons behind securing financing against the trend, Zhu Yeqing stated, “When the glitz fades, true character remains; only through great trials does gold emerge—value regression is particularly critical.”

Mr. Jason Li, Head of Omniscience, the lead investor in this round, stated that China’s cancer early screening sector is on the verge of an explosion, particularly the blue-ocean market for novel molecular diagnostic technologies based on non-invasive methods, which they view very favorably. New Horizon Health is the leading enterprise in the niche segment of colorectal cancer early screening. Its innovative product, the “Multi-target FIT-DNA Combined Detection Kit for Fecal Samples – Changweiqing,” is currently undergoing a large-scale, prospective, multi-center clinical study under the supervision of the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA). If it successfully meets the clinical endpoints, it has the potential to reshape the future landscape of colorectal cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment in China, significantly reducing the incidence and mortality rates of colorectal cancer.

Mr. Samuel D. Isaly, Managing Partner of U.S.-based Exome Asset Management, a participant in this co-investment round, stated, “Colorectal cancer is highly prevalent worldwide. Given China’s large population base, there is a need for more innovative approaches to screen such a vast population. We are delighted to support New Horizon Health in bringing its latest colorectal cancer screening and diagnostic technology to market.”

Mr. Samuel D. Isaly, who once managed the Worldwide Healthcare Trust PLC under Eaton Vance’s global life sciences umbrella, is one of the world’s most renowned healthcare fund managers. He excels at keeping a finger on the pulse of global life sciences development and has long focused on outstanding companies and investment opportunities in the global life sciences sector. As a key investor in this round of financing, he expressed strong confidence in New Horizon Health.

With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, people have gained new insights into disease prevention: first,Home-Based Scientific Management, can prevent illness and safeguard health—for example, by wearing masks and washing hands frequently; secondly,The Absence of Symptoms Does Not Necessarily Indicate Good Health, people have embraced the approach of identifying health risks through nucleic acid testing. These two points align perfectly with New Horizon Health’s long-standing advocacy for at-home early cancer screening.

In fact, individuals at high risk for cancer who are currently asymptomatic exhibit the poorest screening compliance, often delaying diagnosis due to neglect of recommended examinations.Taking colorectal cancer, one of the most prevalent cancers in China, as an example, the colonoscopy acceptance rate was only 15.3% in the 2018 Urban Cancer Early Diagnosis and Treatment Project. Compliance among high-risk individuals without obvious symptoms remains insufficient, causing many to miss out on early screening opportunities.

On the other hand, there is a shortage of colonoscopy services and associated medical resources.A previous survey of 14 Grade A tertiary hospitals in a first-tier city revealed that the average waiting time for scheduling a conventional colonoscopy was 20 days, with more than half of the hospitals requiring a wait of one month or longer, and the longest waiting time reaching 2–3 months. The waiting period for scheduling a painless colonoscopy was even longer, with most hospitals requiring a 3–4 month wait, and the longest extending to approximately one and a half years.

Academician Li Zhaoshen, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, President of the Endoscopist Branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, and Director of the Department of Gastroenterology at Shanghai Changhai Hospital, also pointed out in his article “Current Status of the Development of Digestive Endoscopy Technology in China” published in the Chinese Journal of Digestive Endoscopy that a census conducted across 31 provinces and municipalities in China revealed that a total of 6,128 medical institutions nationwide provide digestive endoscopy diagnosis and treatment services, with 26,203 digestive endoscopists and 14,532 digestive endoscopy nurses. This translates to only 19.59 digestive endoscopists per million population, whereas in Japan, there are 262 digestive endoscopists per million population.

New Horizon Health believes that improving the level of early cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment among the Chinese population can be approached from two aspects:First, provide precise and efficient home-based early screening products for asymptomatic high-risk populations to improve compliance; second, optimize the allocation of limited in-hospital colonoscopy resources by reserving them for symptomatic patients, thereby enabling more scientific and effective early diagnosis and treatment of colorectal cancer.

New Horizon Health’s cancer early screening products offer service advantages such as being non-invasive, painless, easy to operate, accurate in results, and allowing for at-home sample collection. These features effectively address the resource gap in colorectal cancer screening, improve patient compliance, and have thus gained recognition from clinicians. Currently, New Horizon Health is participating in scientific research projects led by the National Cancer Center, including major national special projects of the Ministry of Science and Technology and innovation engineering programs. Its products and technologies were included in the 2018 “Expert Consensus on Early Diagnosis and Screening Strategies for Colorectal Tumors in China” and the “Expert Consensus on Standards for Cancer Prevention Health Checkups,” receiving strong recommendations from hundreds of medical experts.

As the first leading enterprise in China to propose the slogan “High-Incidence Cancers, At-Home Early Screening,” New Horizon Health has been unwaveringly committed since its inception to incorporating early cancer screening products and services into the everyday health consumption of the general public.

The company has independently developed “Changweiqing,” a non-invasive early screening product for colorectal cancer and advanced adenomas; “Pupuguan,” a self-test device for gastrointestinal bleeding; and “Gongzhengqing,” a non-invasive urinary HPV molecular detection product. All are pioneering, industry-benchmark innovations that have ushered in a new era in the cancer early screening market.

New Horizon Health firmly believes that home-based early screening represents the future development trend of the cancer early screening market. Based on this judgment, New Horizon Health is building competitive barriers and unlocking a broad future by creating four “flywheels.”

Diverse Technological Applications.For truly valuable early cancer screening products, enhancing detection sensitivity is key. Unlike the single-gene target detection technologies commonly found on the market, New Horizon Health employs a multi-target FIT-DNA combined detection technology. This approach comprehensively analyzes gene mutations and methylation in fecal DNA, alongside fecal occult blood indicators, to capture intestinal lesion signals from multiple dimensions and perspectives. This ensures timely detection of early-stage lesions and prevents missed diagnoses of advanced colorectal cancer.

Solid Academic Foundation.New Horizon Health has always prioritized clinical research and academic investment. It has completed the largest prospective clinical trial in the field of early cancer screening in China. Clinical studies for other application scenarios are also being carried out with ongoing enrollment, gaining widespread recognition from experts in gastroenterology, oncology, and public health.

The Ultimate Service Chain.Serving a small-scale population relies on diligence, while serving a large-scale population depends on standardization. Targeting the vast market for at-home early cancer screening, New Horizon Health has been committed to building a high-standard customer service system since its inception. By integrating informatization and intelligence into every link—including production, logistics, testing and sample management, customer service, corporate operations, and resource management—the company ensures that customers receive not just a testing product, but also detailed operational guidelines, patient customer support, a convenient and efficient return process, timely result feedback, professional report interpretation, and regular follow-up care.

“We have even considered diagnostic and treatment support for customers who test positive, establishing green channels at more than 200 Grade A tertiary hospitals across China to help positive cases receive the most comprehensive care and assistance,” said Zhu Yeqing. “It is expected that by the end of 2020, the number of partner hospitals in the green channel network will further expand to nearly 1,000.”

Market-Clinical Co-Driven Product Model.Every product under New Horizon Health undergoes rigorous validation by market, medical, and R&D teams before being launched. During the project initiation phase, the company’s R&D, marketing, and clinical teams conduct in-depth research to ensure that products meet market demands and gain clinical recognition. This is one of the key reasons why New Horizon Health’s colorectal cancer early screening products have achieved a 90% market share.

It is estimated that the market size of China's early cancer screening industry ranges from hundreds of billions to trillions of yuan.

It is worth noting that the cancer early screening industry remains in its nascent stage, with no clear industrial landscape yet established. Many industry professionals find it difficult to accurately distinguish between cancer early screening products and tumor auxiliary diagnostic products, often conflating the two.

In fact, there are significant differences between cancer early screening products and auxiliary diagnostic products:

Auxiliary diagnostic products are primarily designed to diagnose patients who already exhibit symptoms, thereby improving patient survival rates through early diagnosis and timely treatment.In layman's terms, computer-aided diagnosis is about ruling out users who are likely healthy and identifying patients with potential health issues.

Early screening products are primarily designed to screen asymptomatic high-risk populations, with positive cases undergoing further diagnostic evaluation, thereby reducing mortality and even incidence rates.In layman's terms, screening is about excluding individuals who are definitely healthy and retaining those who may have potential health issues.

The two differ fundamentally in nature and logic, and also vary in product design, clinical research, and application scenarios.

From the perspective of product design,Auxiliary diagnostic products prioritize specificity, whereas true early screening products emphasize sensitivity. This is why New Horizon Health’s “ColoClear” adopts a multi-target FIT-DNA combined detection technology for stool samples: it focuses on multi-target mutation signals related to genes and methylation, while also placing significant importance on fecal occult blood signals, thereby achieving comprehensive capture of abnormal information associated with colorectal cancer.

From the perspective of clinical research,The sample size for early screening products is dozens of times larger than that for auxiliary diagnostic products, and the study designs also differ.

From the perspective of application scenarios,Early cancer screening can be widely used in homes, health examination centers, and hospitals, while diagnostic aid products are applied in hospitals.

Zhu Yeqing believes that truly meaningful early cancer screening must meet three criteria:

First, it must have clear clinical guidance significance, and the test results must be recognized by clinicians and experts.

Second, there should be a simple and convenient method for definitive diagnosis that can clearly inform patients of the next steps and what actions they need to take.

Third, there must be feasible clinical intervention measures to promptly provide patients with treatment or relief solutions.

All products launched by New Horizon Health and those in its R&D pipeline are premised on these three conditions. Coupled with the drive of four “flywheels”—technology, academia, services, and product model—the company has formed an unstoppable momentum for development.

Zhu Yeqing stated that New Horizon Health’s vision is to transform its early cancer screening products into fast-moving medical consumer goods with proprietary core technologies and strong brand value, thereby securing a direct place on the public’s health consumption list.In the future, users will be able to purchase New Horizon’s early cancer screening products in pharmacies, supermarkets, and online. New Horizon’s technology and services enable ordinary people to easily complete early cancer screening at home, thereby gaining health benefits.

Omniscience is a private equity investment fund established in the Cayman Islands, focusing on investments in China’s healthcare and medical sector.

New York-based Exome Asset Management, founded by Mr. Samuel D. Isaly, focuses on investments in the global biopharmaceutical sector. As one of the founding and managing partners of the globally renowned biopharma fund OrbiMed Advisors LLC, he led OrbiMed to grow its assets under management from $1 billion in 1998 to $15 billion in 2018. Mr. Samuel D. Isaly currently serves as Chairman Emeritus of OrbiMed.