Qlife Healthcare and Zora Biosciences Announce Exclusive Strategic Partnership to Accelerate Global Expansion of Precision Multi-Omics Innovations

Recently, Pinsheng Medical, a leader in clinical mass spectrometry and multi-omics, announced its partnership with a globally leading precision medicine companyZora Biosciences(hereinafter referred to as “Zora”) entered into a strategic partnership,Zora has granted Pingsheng Medical an exclusive license to its full product portfolio and patent pool, which feature globally exclusive intellectual property rights and include cardiovascular disease risk detection and early diabetes screening. Pingsheng Medical will comprehensively carry out commercialization and in-depth R&D efforts targeted at the Chinese market.This strategic alliance will focus on the global deployment of innovative products for precision diagnosis and treatment, establishing a new paradigm for the globalization strategy of China’s leading multi-omics enterprise.

Multi-omics approaches, represented by proteomics and metabolomics, can reveal the molecular changes underlying pathological manifestations, enabling a more comprehensive understanding of human health and driving the development of precision medicine. Globally, however, multi-omics technologies that have successfully translated from medical research into clinical applications remain exceedingly rare. As a pioneering leader in the global clinical translation of multi-omics, Zora has accumulated intellectual property rights for multiple core technologies over the past decade and achieved remarkable accomplishments in the clinical translation of multi-omics product technologies and commercial expansion, with its growth speed and technological leadership far surpassing those of its peers.

Zora’s flagship proprietary omics product—Ceramide-Based Series for Cardiovascular Disease Risk AssessmentforFor example, Dr. Reijo Laaksonen, Chief Medical Officer of Zora and Director of the Finnish Cardiovascular Research Center, found in his research that some individuals with normal conventional lipid profiles ultimately developed cardiovascular disease or even died, indicating that these lives were “overlooked.” To address this clinical pain point, Dr. Reijo Laaksonen and his team were the first in the world to discover four specific ceramide molecules in plasma—Cer(d18:1/16:0), Cer(d18:1/18:0), Cer(d18:1/24:0), and Cer(d18:1/24:1)Enables accurate prediction of adverse cardiovascular events independently of conventional indicators. The team, based on this technical solution, has separately conductedCountries and regions in the Americas, Europe, and AsiaDozens of patents have been successfully commercialized, with clinically protected indications covering the diagnosis and prediction of various cardiovascular diseases, including atherosclerosis, acute coronary syndrome, and myocardial infarction. Furthermore, the scope of protection for the patent family extends to newly identified ceramide molecular subclasses used for predicting or diagnosing cardiovascular complications, as well as their labeling methods and detection kits.

In 2016, Dr. Reijo Laaksonen and his team published their findings in the European Heart Journal, the premier journal in the field of cardiovascular medicine with an impact factor as high as 40. This landmark study on ceramides has since been highly cited and spearheaded a global wave of subsequent research.In particular, the conclusive finding that ceramides are powerful and specific markers for adverse cardiovascular events was highlighted by *Nature Reviews Cardiology* as one of the most influential research outcomes worldwide in 2016, further solidifying the core foundation for the future commercialization of this technology.

Spearheaded by Zora, 18 medical institutions from seven countries participated in the relevant cohort study, enrolling over 100,000 participants and spanning a decade. Unlike typical clinical trials in terms of enrollment scale, this pioneering study stands as a “paradigmatic model” for global large-scale population cohort studies, given its unprecedented sample size, long duration, and inclusion of diverse racial groups. The omics “big data” regarding the predictive value of ceramides for cardiovascular diseases continues to be updated and expanded.Medical and research institutions across Europe and the United States, including the Mayo Clinic in the U.S., have consecutively published relevant studies in top-tier journals such as the European Heart Journal, Nature, Circulation, and JCI. From a clinical practice perspective, the Finnish National Health Authority is also incorporating this indicator into its clinical guidelines.

Although this product carries many “groundbreaking” labels, its real-world commercial performance has been highly encouraging. Since its launch, it has gained widespread popularity across Europe and the United States. In the U.S., it has been licensed for commercial use by leading medical institutions such as the Mayo Clinic and third-party testing giant Quest Diagnostics, and has been integrated into the American commercial insurance system. In Finland, the test has been included in the national reimbursement list, with all private hospitals and 50% of public hospitals already offering it.This product is becoming a benchmark for the commercial translation of multi-omics technology R&D on a global scale.

2023The top international journal, ScienceA landmark cover article titled “Starting from the Heart” highlighted Zora’s cutting-edge innovations. For many years, researchers developed numerous methods to analyze and quantify ceramides. It was not until Dr. Reijo Laaksonen and his team first applied mass spectrometry to precisely detect ceramides that the significant value of ceramides in predicting cardiovascular risk was uncovered, filling a gap in the field of precise prediction of cardiovascular diseases. “Ceramides may predict cardiovascular events better than cholesterol, and doctors and pharmaceutical companies are recognizing their potential.” Science magazine noted that this discovery is having a broad and profound impact on the medical community and the biopharmaceutical industry.

Cover Story in the Premier International Journal Science

In this cover story, both the Mayo Clinic and Quest have highly praised this product, marking a significant milestone in its smooth commercialization journey. Jeff Meeusen, Director of the Cardiovascular Laboratory at the Mayo Clinic, stated in an interview, “Ceramides are more directly involved in the progression of atherosclerosis and serve as excellent predictors of cardiovascular risk.” Marc Penn, Medical Director of the Heart, Metabolic, and Endocrine Business Unit at Quest, believes that measuring ceramides allows for a comprehensive assessment of patients’ risk of developing metabolic diseases.

Dr. Cheng Xiaoliang, Founder and CEO of Pingsheng Medicalstated: “Zora is one of the internationally leading precision omics companies,The cardiovascular disease risk detection product, developed over more than a decade, is the first precision omics product to achieve commercialization in the European and American markets.Precision diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular diseases is also one of the key business focuses of Pinsheng Medical. In China, we have accumulated extensive cohort study data on ceramides as indicators of cardiovascular disease risk. We highly respect the protection of intellectual property rights for original technologies and admire Zora’s outstanding achievements in the development of precision omics technologies.We believe that this powerful alliance, featuring comprehensive technological and commercial collaboration, will launch globally leading precision omics testing products in the cardiovascular field, thereby benefiting human health."Through deep collaboration with Zora, Pinsheng Medical will also accelerate its globalization strategy, achieving a global layout for innovative products in precision diagnosis and treatment."

Dr. Reini Hurme, CEO of Zorastated: “In our search for partners in the Chinese market, we have engaged with numerous companies.We recognize Pingsheng Medical’s capabilities in commercializing clinical mass spectrometry solutions in the Chinese market, as well as its comprehensive strategic layout in multi-omics research and development and its robust portfolio of multi-omics products. The professionalism, global vision, and international presence of its team even surpass those of many large enterprises. Therefore, we have firmly chosen Pingsheng Medical as Zora’s exclusive partner in the Chinese market.“This strategic partnership marks a significant milestone for Zora. We will join forces with Shenzhen Institute of Life and Health Medicine Co., Ltd. to jointly drive the development and global marketing of a series of products, including cardiovascular disease risk detection assays. As we establish our commercial presence in the three major healthcare markets—China, the United States, and Europe—Zora and Shenzhen Institute of Life and Health Medicine Co., Ltd. will together lead the wave of clinical applications in precision omics.”

Globally, cardiovascular disease has become the "leading killer" threatening human health. Among urban and rural residents in China, cardiovascular disease ranks first in terms of proportion of deaths, with both its incidence and mortality rates higher than those of cancer, and its consequences are severe. However, most cardiovascular diseases are preventable and treatable; early prediction of disease risk, along with early detection and treatment, has become the primary approach to preventing and controlling cardiovascular disease.

Since the implementation of the Outline of the Healthy China 2030 Plan in China in 2016, “reducing premature mortality from major chronic diseases” has become a key development indicator for chronic disease prevention and control in China.Driven by a dual-engine model of proprietary, source-level innovation and global collaboration, Pinsheng Medical is committed to translating cutting-edge international technologies into applications that benefit public health. Building a comprehensive competitive moat in cardiovascular disease management is a long-term and arduous endeavor. The strategic partnership between Pinsheng Medical and Zora Biosciences will help enhance early warning capabilities for cardiovascular diseases in China’s healthcare market, thereby contributing to the Healthy China initiative.