AccuMed Completes Tens-of-Millions RMB Pre-A Funding Round to Advance Precision Surgical Navigation Systems

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned that on January 2, 2019, Jingmai Medical, a supplier of precision intelligent “navigation + robot” surgical systems, announced the completion of its tens-of-millions-level Pre-A financing round, with Sanze Capital as the investor.

It is reported that the funds will be primarily allocated to multi-center clinical trials for two flagship products and to the upgrading and R&D of a surgical robotics project. Mr. Gu Lixu, founder of Jingmai Medical, told VCBeat that the company is conducting clinical trials in collaboration with several renowned hospitals in Beijing and Shanghai.

Jingmai Medical is a high-tech medical company dedicated to the research, development, and production of navigation and robotic systems for precision surgery. Established in May 2016 and headquartered in Shanghai, China, the company has invested in constructing a 1,300-square-meter production base in Nantong, Jiangsu Province. Currently, Jingmai Medical focuses on the R&D and manufacturing of low-cost, high-precision navigation systems for interventional procedures and surgical robots.

To date, Jingmai Medical has completed two rounds of financing. The previous round was an angel investment from Legend Star in 2016. Mr. Gu Lixu stated that Jingmai Medical was fortunate to gain Legend Star’s recognition during the angel round and received valuable assistance from Legend Star in company operations and the second round of financing. “During the Pre-A round, we were honored to secure support from Sanze Capital. Sanze Capital boasts a highly professional team specializing in healthcare investment and post-investment management, which will facilitate Jingmai Medical’s future development.”

Mr. Zeng Wenbing, Senior Partner at Sanze Capital, stated: “Supported by national policies in recent years and the return of high-end talent from both domestic and overseas markets, a cohort of high-end medical device technology companies has emerged that approach or have reached international leading standards. Cancer remains the leading cause of death in society today, and early detection and treatment have become industry trends, particularly drawing significant attention in the fields of lung and liver cancers. There is an urgent market demand for advanced technologies in this area to improve diagnostic and therapeutic outcomes and alleviate the burden on patients. We are optimistic about the long-term development potential of this sector and value the combination of outstanding research teams with strong commercial leadership. We are committed to leveraging Sanze Capital’s extensive investment experience in the healthcare industry to support the growth and development of these teams.”

Due to its high specificity, minimal secondary trauma, and favorable prognosis, minimally invasive surgery has become the mainstream trend in clinical surgical practice. Under non-open surgical conditions, the human body resembles a black box, making it difficult for physicians to ascertain internal pathological changes and precisely localize lesions. With the rapid advancement of medical imaging technologies, imaging modalities such as computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and ultrasound provide the essential visual data required for clinical diagnosis and treatment.

However, the mainstream application of medical imaging remains confined to the diagnostic phase, with surgical treatment deriving minimal benefit from it. In fact, for complex minimally invasive surgeries, particularly the various innovative tumor therapies that have emerged in recent years, image-guided precise intraoperative localization and navigation are crucial for ensuring surgical quality.

Jingmai Medical integrates multidisciplinary technologies, including medical imaging, clinical minimally invasive techniques, virtual reality, visual localization, and robotics. By fusing preoperative and intraoperative medical imaging for application during surgery, and leveraging the latest principles of visual localization along with advanced optical and electromagnetic spatial tracking technologies, the company achieves precise localization of surgical instruments and human tissues. Furthermore, it creates virtual reality surgical scenarios for physicians, thereby enhancing the intuitiveness, precision, and efficiency of minimally invasive procedures. “We fully leverage the latest technological advancements to extend medical imaging beyond the radiology department and into the operating room,” stated Mr. Gu Lixu. Jingmai Medical has already entered clinical treatment fields such as early tumor screening, interventional lesion resection, and thermal cryoablation.

Currently, Jingmai Medical’s first product poised to enter clinical trials is an interventional diagnostic and therapeutic surgical navigation system, primarily used for percutaneous needle biopsy procedures targeting tumors in the chest and abdomen, such as lung cancer.

It is well known that lung cancer has become the leading cause of death among humans. Early diagnosis and early treatment are key to improving the cure rate of lung cancer at this stage. Using a biopsy needle to intervene in lung tissue for biopsy remains the clinical gold standard for diagnosing lung tumors. However, convenient imaging techniques such as ultrasound are not applicable to the lungs. When lesions in the early stages of lung cancer are very small (e.g., less than 10mm), traditional CT and C-arm guided surgeries are difficult and time-consuming. Under current technological conditions, doctors can only choose to continue observation, thereby missing the optimal early treatment period; or they may perform excessive resection without distinguishing between benign and malignant conditions, causing unnecessary damage.

One of the overseas technical solutions is electromagnetic navigation bronchoscopy, which enables lesion localization for early-stage pulmonary nodules. However, while this approach appears to address the most challenging localization issue, it is characterized by complex operation and high costs. Furthermore, the accuracy of the navigation system is somewhat limited because the bronchoscope interferes with the magnetic field distribution.

Jingmai Medical’s enhanced magnetic navigation technology, using CT as the imaging source, requires only 2–3 CT scans throughout the entire procedure (to be further reduced to one), resulting in low X-ray exposure while enabling precise localization of nodules just a few millimeters in size. The system is also easy to operate and cost-effective. Clinical data indicate that surgeries guided by Jingmai Medical’s magnetic navigation technology significantly reduce operative time, needle insertion attempts, and total radiation dose.

According to Mr. Gu Lixu, Jingmai Medical’s interventional diagnosis and treatment surgical navigation system and intelligent navigation biopsy needle have completed all R&D and type registration testing. A comprehensive clinical trial protocol has been established, and clinical trials are being conducted at several top-tier hospitals in China. “We place great emphasis on product clinical trials, selecting the best clinical institutions, implementing the most standardized protocols, and strictly adhering to the standards of international medical device companies.”

In recent years, the research and development of innovative oncology treatment regimens have gained significant momentum, with thermal ablation (both hot and cold), nanoknife technology, radioactive seed implantation, and gene therapy emerging as prominent fields. Jingmai Medical is positioned to provide intelligent, precision surgical diagnosis and treatment systems for various novel oncology therapies, enabling these modalities to reach lesions accurately, rapidly, safely, and effectively.

Mr. Gu Lixu explained that the decision to start with the relatively less hyped technology of precision surgical platforms was driven by a critical gap: many effective, innovative oncology treatments fail to be implemented because they cannot accurately reach their internal targets. There is an urgent need for a platform technology that can establish a precise pathway from outside the body to the lesion. Jingmai Medical provides this platform technology through image guidance. “Surgery is akin to a battle against the lesion; therapeutic agents are the bullets, while Jingmai Medical’s solution serves as the precision weapon.”

In addition to its interventional diagnosis and treatment surgical navigation system and intelligent navigation biopsy needle, Jingmai Medical has completed the development of the first-generation prototype of its tumor-precise biopsy robot system, which will enable intelligent biopsy guidance for tumors in the future. Furthermore, Jingmai Medical has several reserve projects under development, including more complex multi-departmental surgical robot systems and several minimally invasive diagnostic and therapeutic systems focused on oncology and cardiovascular diseases.

Mr. Gu Lixu told VCBeat that Jingmai Medical’s vision is to become a provider of intelligent surgical solutions for all specialties, with plans to integrate artificial intelligence technologies to empower interventional procedures in the future.

In terms of its team, Jingmai Medical has assembled the leading scientific research teams and top business leadership talent in this field within China. The three founding initiators of Jingmai Medical are all seasoned serial entrepreneurs in the medical device industry. Mr. Gu Lixu once studied under an international master and served as a Research Associate at the Medical Imaging Laboratory of the Robarts Research Institute in Canada, where he was responsible for translating surgical navigation research achievements into technological applications and concurrently served as Technical Advisor to CEDARA. Furthermore, Mr. Gu Lixu collaborated with Harvard Medical School in the United States to conduct international research on surgical navigation projects.

Previously, Mr. Gu Lixu founded Suzhou Dikai'er Medical Technology Co., Ltd. The other two founding initiators bring nearly 20 years of extensive industry experience, with deep expertise in management and leadership, rich marketing experience, and a proven track record in incubating medical technology ventures. The team’s capabilities are complementary and synergistic.

According to Mr. Gu Lixu, Jingmai Medical plans to launch its next round of A-series financing, amounting to tens of millions of yuan, in the summer of 2019. The funds will be primarily used for market expansion, as well as for clinical trials and regulatory submission for its second and third products.