Molecular Diagnostics Leader Rayoon Bio Secures Strategic Investment from Zhejiang Health Industry Fund to Advance Precision Medicine

Recently, VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) learned that Shanghai Ruiang Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (“Ruiang Biotech”) has secured an investment of hundreds of millions of yuan, led by the Zhejiang Grand Health Industry Fund. This strategic investment represents a significant step for Ruiang Biotech in optimizing its shareholder structure and introducing industrial resources.

As one of the earliest enterprises in China to enter the field of tumor molecular diagnostic reagents, Shanghai Ruikang Biotechnology Co., Ltd. is a high-tech enterprise dedicated to the research and development, production, and sales of products in the field of clinical tumor molecular diagnostics. It was founded by Dr. Xiong Hui, a leading academic figure who was among the first in China to engage in human genome research. The company was consecutively recognized as one of the “Top 100 Future Healthcare Enterprises” in 2016 and 2017.

Since its establishment in 2012, Ruiao Biology has been committed to leading industrial development through technological innovation. It has grown into one of the companies with the largest number of CFDA-approved products in China’s tumor molecular diagnostics sector. Its self-developed reagents for detecting leukemia-associated fusion genes were among the first to receive CFDA approval in China, establishing a solid leading position in the field of precise leukemia diagnosis.

Currently, the company’s core intellectual property portfolio includes 30 granted national invention patents. Its product lines cover leukemia, lymphoma, solid tumors, cardiovascular medications, infectious diseases, and forensic applications, encompassing the entire diagnostic and therapeutic process—from initial diagnosis, prognosis assessment, and treatment regimen selection to monitoring of therapeutic efficacy, adjustment of treatment courses, and evaluation of other specialized treatment protocols.

The company has established collaborative relationships with leading hematology research institutions, including the Shanghai Institute of Hematology and the Tianjin Institute of Hematology. It has engaged in multiple strategic collaborations with pharmaceutical giants such as Pfizer, Merck, and AstraZeneca. Furthermore, the company has formed long-term partnerships with Thermo Fisher Scientific, the world’s largest manufacturer of biological reagents and instruments; Illumina, a producer of next-generation sequencing instruments and reagents; and Bio-Rad, a manufacturer of digital PCR instruments and reagents.

Precision medicine is based on each patient’s genetic information, selecting the most appropriate treatment regimen for each individual according to genomic or expression differences. As a cutting-edge diagnostic technology, molecular diagnostics not only plays a crucial role in screening and diagnosing infectious and genetic diseases and in transplant compatibility testing, but will also be applied in areas such as personalized oncology diagnosis and treatment, monitoring of high-cost drug therapies, pharmacogenomics research, cardiovascular diseases, neurological disorders, DNA fingerprint analysis, and tissue typing. This will significantly drive the transition from the current “symptom-based healthcare” model to an “individualized healthcare” model, making personalized diagnosis and targeted therapy possible.

In China, the molecular diagnostics industry has experienced rapid development in recent years, with a compound annual growth rate exceeding 30%, and its market size is projected to reach RMB 10 billion by 2019. Driven by major trends such as population aging, shifts in disease patterns, transformation of healthcare delivery models, and policy initiatives gradually incorporating personalized testing into medical insurance coverage, molecular diagnostics holds substantial growth potential in China.

Zhejiang Grand Health Industry Fund is the first industry-focused investment fund in China initiated by industrial consortia and dedicated to investments in the grand health sector. Jointly established in 2017 by Dian Diagnostics, Topchoice Medical, and B-Soft—listed companies in the healthcare industry—the fund adopts an investment model characterized by “research-driven investment, global perspective, and industrial empowerment.” It is committed to promoting medical technological innovation, accelerating the development of innovative enterprises, and supporting the Healthy China initiative through the deep integration of capital and leading industries.

Dr. Xiong Hui, Founder, Chairman, and General Manager of Ruiang Biology, stated, “China’s cancer incidence rate is close to the global average, but its mortality rate exceeds the world level. Our original aspiration in establishing the company was to ensure that every patient with hematologic malignancies or solid tumors receives affordable, personalized diagnosis and treatment services. The Zhejiang Big Health Industry Fund has cultivated deep expertise in China’s healthcare sector. The fund’s initiators possess keen policy insights in the in vitro diagnostics industry, extensive industrial resources, and mature enterprise management experience, which will help guide the company toward healthier development.”

Zhong Jie, a partner at the Zhejiang Big Health Industry Fund, stated, “Precision medicine represents the future direction of medical development and is a key focus of our fund’s investment strategy. As a major player driving the application of molecular diagnostics for oncology in China, Raon Biotech boasts robust R&D capabilities and strong clinical translation capacity, having established a significant competitive advantage particularly in the field of hematologic disorders. We look forward to collaborating with Raon Biotech to jointly build an industrial ecosystem in genetic testing and in vitro diagnostics, thereby accelerating the transformation of diagnostic and therapeutic paradigms.”