WuXi NextCODE Secures $240 Million Series B Funding to Accelerate Global Gene Data Platform Infrastructure

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned that on September 7, 2017, WuXi NextCODE, a genetic research and application service provider under the WuXi AppTec Group committed to building a global genomic big data platform, announced today that it had successfully completed a $240 million Series B financing round.

This round of financing was led by Sequoia China, with other investors including Temasek, Yunfeng Capital, and 3W Partners. Temasek, Yunfeng Capital, and 3W Partners also participated in WuXi NextCODE’s financing round this past May. Other investors at that time included Amgen Ventures, the venture capital arm of Amgen, as well as other long-term investors and partners. China Renaissance served as the exclusive financial advisor for this round of financing.

WuXi NextCODE was established through the integration of WuXi AppTec’s Genomics Center and NextCODE Health, an Icelandic company specializing in big data analytics for precision medicine. It is committed to improving human health by leveraging big data in precision medicine. WuXi NextCODE offers an integrated, open platform that includes China’s first laboratory to achieve dual accreditation from the U.S. Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) and the College of American Pathologists (CAP), as well as the NextCODE precision medicine big data analytics and interpretation system—the only such system globally validated and optimized using whole-genome data from 300,000 individuals—supporting both cloud-based and on-premises deployment.

WuXi NextCODE has established branches in Shanghai, China, the United States, and Iceland, providing comprehensive precision medicine solutions to researchers, clinicians, healthcare institutions, and individual consumers worldwide. It empowers global partners to accelerate drug development and diagnostic reagent development, reduce human birth defects, improve the diagnosis of rare diseases, and advance the clinical application of other precision medicine technologies.

WuXi NextCODE will leverage this financing opportunity, relying on precision medicine projects and collaborations with diagnostic and treatment institutions, to promote solutions tailored for the Chinese consumer market. This initiative aims to attract new users and generate additional data, accelerating the improvement and expansion of its genomic big data platform infrastructure, ultimately empowering individuals to access and utilize their own genetic data to enhance healthcare outcomes.

“Our vision is to build a global genomic big data platform to improve the health of all humanity. The success of this financing round demonstrates the full confidence of prominent investment institutions in the global technology and healthcare sectors in our vision,” said Mr. Hannes Smarason, CEO of WuXi NextCODE. “We possess unique expertise, and now have even greater resource advantages to achieve this strategic goal. We will leverage technologies, including pioneering artificial intelligence algorithms, to further strengthen WuXi NextCODE’s leading position in genomic digitization, genomic big data management, and data analysis and interpretation, enabling our genomic big data platform to serve more enterprises, institutions, and individuals worldwide.”

Mr. Neil Shen, Global Executive Partner of Sequoia Capital, stated, “Genomics is ushering in unprecedented development opportunities in the era of global big data. Coupled with breakthrough innovations in artificial intelligence, the field of precision medicine will see many explosive growth opportunities in the future. Sequoia China has always placed great emphasis on investments in genomics and precision medicine. By leading this financing round for WuXi NextCODE, we will help the company build a standardized platform for genetic big data, enabling sequencing data to ultimately benefit the health of people worldwide—this is the perfect integration of healthcare and scientific technology.”

Dr. Li Ge, Founder and Chairman of WuXi AppTec Group and Chairman of WuXi NextCODE, stated: “WuXi NextCODE’s mission is to empower everyone to access and benefit from genomic information, which was our original intention in building a globally leading genomic big data platform. We are delighted to attract such a distinguished group of institutional investors. They not only share our vision but also support our development with their unique resources. Only when a platform accumulates millions of genomic datasets can it generate network effects and build a knowledge base, thereby delivering greater benefits to all. Such a platform will continuously attract more users and data, provide more powerful health insights, and serve both healthy individuals and patients worldwide.”