GeneKey Medicine Secures RMB 50 Million B+ Round Led by Dorchester Capital and Follow-on Investment from Legend Capital to Strengthen Leadership in Infectious Disease Diagnostics

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned that GensKey Medicine, which just completed a hundred-million-yuan Series B financing round at the end of 2019, recently announced it had secured RMB 50 million in Series B+ funding led by Fortune Capital, with additional investment from Legend Capital. The funds will be primarily used for the development of next-generation pathogen diagnostic products and clinical trials.

Infectious diseases are a major threat to human health. In recent years, public health emergencies caused by infectious pathogens have occurred frequently, and pathogen resistance due to antibiotic misuse has become increasingly severe. Rapid and accurate detection of pathogens is key to prevention and control efforts.

The recent outbreak of the novel coronavirus has caused widespread concern. Since December 2019, some medical institutions in Wuhan, Hubei Province, have successively reported patients with pneumonia of unknown cause, all diagnosed as viral pneumonia or pulmonary infection. On January 12, 2020, the World Health Organization officially named the novel coronavirus responsible for the Wuhan pneumonia outbreak as “2019 Novel Coronavirus” (2019-nCoV). This sudden epidemic has entered a phase of rapid spread. According to the latest data released by China’s National Health Commission, as of 21:00 on January 23, 2020, a total of 638 confirmed cases of 2019-nCoV infection had been reported in mainland China, with 30 patients cured and 17 deaths.

On the evening of January 20, 2020, GensKey Medicine issued an announcement formally launching its independently developed “Nucleic Acid Test Kit for the 2019-nCoV Novel Coronavirus.” The announcement stated that the 2019-nCoV novel coronavirus nucleic acid test kit employs classic nested PCR technology, which offers reliable technical principles and high reproducibility. Combined with highly specific fluorescent probes, the assay achieves a detection sensitivity as low as one viral copy. The target region is located in a highly specific area of the 2019-nCoV coronavirus, thereby excluding interference from common coronaviruses. The test kit is compatible with high-speed PCR instruments, with a single-cycle time as short as 20 seconds, reducing the total nested detection time to under one hour.

GensKey Medicine's Self-Developed "Nucleic Acid Test Kit for the 2019-nCoV Novel Coronavirus"

GensKey Medicine also expressed its willingness to further collaborate with clinical and public health systems under the Center for Disease Control and Prevention to evaluate and apply its 2019-nCoV novel coronavirus nucleic acid detection kit (nested RT-PCR fluorescent probe method), thereby contributing technical expertise to epidemic prevention and control. In addition, GensKey Medicine’s flagship product, the Jinsheyuan Pathogen Metagenomic Detection Kit, has incorporated genetic information on this emerging pathogen, enabling the identification of coronavirus subtypes during high-throughput pathogen screening.

Since the beginning of 2019, GensKey Medicine has experienced rapid growth and recently completed a Series B financing round worth hundreds of millions of yuan in late November. The investors included SoftBank China Capital, Lingang Venture Capital, and Yuanju Capital. GensKey Medicine stated that, in light of the rapid development of the pathogen detection industry and a series of recent industry changes, it swiftly closed an additional Series B+ financing round, with Foris Capital leading this round.

Mr. Qi Shen, Managing Partner of the Healthcare Sector at Fortune Capital, stated, “We are delighted to join forces with both new and existing investors to support the growth of GensKey. There is a significant gap between traditional clinical microbiology diagnostic techniques and the complex, urgent needs of clinical practice, while increasingly mature genetic testing technologies are poised to play an ever more critical role in this field. We believe that under the leadership of an exceptional team that combines innovative prowess with strong management capabilities, GensKey will continue to provide products and services with the highest diagnostic and therapeutic value for clinical use, establishing itself as a leader in the field of infectious disease diagnostics.”

GensKey Medicine specializes in the development of diagnostic products for infectious diseases and the provision of medical testing services. Currently, the company’s flagship product for high-throughput pathogen genetic testing, JinShiYuan, utilizes next-generation sequencing (NGS) metagenomics to provide physicians with genetic testing services for pathogenic microorganisms. Since its establishment, GensKey Medicine has experienced rapid growth, having cumulatively served over 100 hospitals, more than 1,000 physicians, and tens of thousands of patients. The company has also assisted more than ten central hospitals across China in building and operating high-throughput pathogen detection platforms.

GensKey Medicine’s R&D center is located in the Changping Life Science Park of Zhongguancun, Beijing, and it is recognized as a high-tech enterprise within Zhongguancun. GensKey Medicine’s GMP-compliant manufacturing facility is situated in the Wuqing Development Zone, Tianjin, dedicated to the development and production of diagnostic reagents and medical devices. The facility is equipped with advanced technical systems and instruments, including risk control systems, water purification systems, biological safety cabinets, clean benches, qPCR instruments, and Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzers, ensuring compliance with the National Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) requirements for medical devices.

GensKey Medical Laboratory is a large-scale third-party independent medical laboratory built on the ISO 15189 framework and grounded in total quality management, providing physicians with precise, efficient, and high-quality medical testing services. GensKey Tianjin Medical Laboratory, located in the Entrepreneurship Headquarters Base in Wuqing District, Tianjin, is a specialized laboratory for pathogenic microbiology testing. It has passed acceptance for genetic amplification laboratories and completed registration as a Biosafety Level 2 (BSL-2) laboratory. GensKey Shanghai Medical Laboratory is situated in Jiading District, Shanghai, adjacent to the Hongqiao Transportation Hub, offering convenient access and delivering an exceptional service experience to clinical clients in East China.

Over the past 20 years since its establishment, Fortune Capital has managed assets worth RMB 30 billion, invested in 500 companies, with over 90 portfolio companies already listed and dozens more preparing for IPO filings. Healthcare has always been a key investment focus for Fortune Capital. To date, it has invested in 60 healthcare companies, establishing a systematic investment layout covering important sub-sectors such as new drug R&D, in vitro diagnostics (IVD), medical devices, and healthcare services. As the Series A investor in GensKey Medicine, Legend Capital’s additional capital injection demonstrates its continued confidence in the infectious disease diagnostics sector and in GensKey Medicine.

Julian Capital, a member enterprise of Legend Holdings, was established in 2001.As one of China’s most established private equity investment firms, Legend Capital currently manages US dollar and RMB funds with a total asset under management (AUM) exceeding RMB 45 billion. Legend Capital focuses on innovation and growth opportunities in China.The investment portfolio covers multiple sub-sectors, including healthcare services, biopharmaceuticals, diagnostics, gene technology, medical devices, and mobile health. It has established in-depth strategic positions across a spectrum of diseases, particularly in cardiac medicine and surgery, neurosurgery, diabetes, and oncology.Cumulatively invested in nearly 450 companies, of which nearly 70 have successfully gone public in China or overseas.。