Huasheng Gene Submits IPO Prospectus: A Leading Genomic Big Data Platform for Physicians, Backed by Over RMB 70 Million Series A Funding

Watson Genetics is dedicated to leveraging internet technology to serve precision medicine, providing comprehensive professional information services for precision medicine, meeting the medical data needs of various specialized fields, and establishing a personal genetic profile system with the goal of advancing from precision medicine to precision prevention.

Regarding the company’s core business, Chen Yong, Deputy General Manager of Huasheng Gene, revealed to a reporter from VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) that the real-time mobile internet data collection and application service platform for tumor gene big data is a key project of Huasheng Gene.

“Jin Liuli” is a personalized medicine mobile internet service platform under Watson Genomics, officially launched in 2015. The inception of Jin Liuli marks Watson Genomics’ transformation from a bioinformatics software enterprise into an “Internet + Genomic Big Data Services” company. As a high-tech product resulting from the deep integration of internet technologies, big data, and genomic science, the platform offers services including cancer genomics, medication regimen guidance, clinical case queries, recommendations for genetic testing panels, and real-time collection and analysis of clinical data. It is committed to building a “Baidu for specialized oncology personalized medicine.”

The Jin Liuli Platform integrates internationally authoritative databases, including NCI, FDA, NCCN, ASCO, PharmGKB, and COSMIC, to develop a comprehensive knowledge base of genes for personalized cancer diagnosis and treatment, along with associated clinical data. The platform offers services such as cancer gene queries, medication regimen recommendations, clinical case searches, genetic testing protocol recommendations, real-time collection and analysis of clinical data, and real-time patient follow-up, thereby achieving coherent, complete, and unified management of patient data.

According to Chen Yong, compared with other internet healthcare products, the most distinctive feature of Jin Liuli is that it not only provides an online service platform for understanding and learning about genetics and personalized medicine, as well as purchasing genetic testing services, but more importantly, it offers physicians personalized medical treatment recommendations based on its accumulation of extensive case studies and genetic testing data, thereby placing greater emphasis on serving healthcare providers.

In the coming period, Watson Genetics will collect and further develop oncology clinical data to provide physicians with a big data–powered intelligent assistant that supports clinical diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Ultimately, the company aims to deliver scientifically rigorous genetic data analysis, diagnostic and therapeutic recommendations, and clinical big data services for precision oncology to the general public.

In 2000, Watson Genetics’ parent company, Beijing Watson Hengye Technology Co., Ltd., was established in Zhongguancun, Beijing. After more than a decade of development, Watson Genetics employs 9 PhDs, 15 master’s degree holders, and 45 bachelor’s degree holders. Its team comprises high-level professionals in technical fields such as bioinformatics, genetics, pharmacy, software engineering, and computer science, as well as in management and finance. This complementary professional structure ensures the smooth execution of various R&D tasks. The company serves over 4,000 molecular testing laboratories and research institutions worldwide.

Among these, NextGENe, developed by Watson, is positioned by Thermo Fisher Scientific as the recommended companion software for its Ion Torrent sequencing systems. GeneMarker HID, designed for forensic applications, has received official certification from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and is the only software product of its kind used by China’s public security agencies.

Under the leadership of Chairman Rao Jiang, Huasheng Gene has recruited dozens of industry experts from prestigious institutions such as Tsinghua University, Peking University, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. Its project, “Research and Development and Industrialization of a Personalized Medicine Cloud Computing Platform Based on Next-Generation Sequencing Technology,” enabled Huasheng Gene to receive the Acceptance Certificate for the Jiangsu Provincial Special Fund Project for the Transformation of Scientific and Technological Achievements, issued by the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Science and Technology.

In July 2012, the project “Research and Development and Application of a New-Generation Cloud Service Platform for Large-Scale DNA Data Analysis” was approved for funding under the Ministry of Science and Technology’s Innovation Fund for Small and Medium-sized Sci-Tech Enterprises.

In September 2012, the project “Development and Industrialization of a Cloud Computing Platform for Personalized Medicine Based on Next-Generation Sequencing Technology” was successfully approved as a Major Scientific and Technological Achievement Transformation Project of Jiangsu Province;

In October 2013, the project “Integrated Analysis Platform for Personalized Medical Data Based on Next-Generation Sequencing” was approved as an industrialization demonstration project under the National Torch Program of the Ministry of Science and Technology.

In 2015, the project “Real-time Data Acquisition and Application Service Platform for Tumor Gene Big Data via Mobile Internet” was approved for funding under the National Guiding Fund for the Development of the Service Industry. In the same year, the project was recognized by the Jiangsu Provincial Development and Reform Commission as an innovative initiative under the “Jiangsu Province Top 100 Enterprises Demonstration Project for Service Industry Innovation.”

In August 2015, Huasheng Gene was listed on the National Equities Exchange and Quotations (NEEQ) and secured RMB 74 million in Series A financing.

Currently, Watson Genetics is planning its Series B financing to support data collection and platform development. The specific amount and progress of the fundraising have not yet been disclosed by the company.