The company specializes in noninvasive screening and early detection of malignant tumors like colorectal cancer, a fifth leading cause of cancer death in China
Cancer; cancer screening; liquid biopsy
Wuhan Ammunition Life Technology Co., Ltd. (Chinese: 武汉艾米森生命科技有限公司, Ammunition) completed a Series C round of financing worth more than CNY100 million (USD 15.12 million), led by CCB International (Chinese: 建银国际), with Wuhan Hi-Tech (Chinese: 武汉高科), Sanya Xuanpan (Chinese: 三亚轩盼) and other institutions following suit.
The funds raised will be used for market expansion, new product R&D, clinical trials, registration and declaration.
The company’s latest funding round came more than one year after its CNY 100 Million Series B financing round in February 2021 led by Guangzhou Jinhe Capital (Chinese: 金阖资本) Changjiang Securities Innovation Investment (Chinese: 长江证券创新投资) joined and existing shareholder Hybriobio (Chinese: 凯普生物) also participated in that round.
This high-tech enterprise focuses on noninvasive screening and early detection for high-incident malignant tumors. Ammunition has a complete system for the in vitro Diagnosis (IVD) R & D, manufacturing, marketing, and medical testing.
Its core product is IColocomf®, an early noninvasive screening product for colorectal cancer, has been certified by National Medical Products Administration (NMPA). It is the first product in China to detect colorectal cancer by dual-targeted fecal DNA methylation, which can find early gene variation of progressive adenoma larger than 1cm across.
According to the World Cancer Report 2020 released by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), new cases and deaths caused by colorectal cancer account for 10% and 9.4% of cancer patients, respectively.
Colorectal cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer death in China, although colorectal cancer has a high mortality rate, due to the slow progression and clear precancerous lesion, early screening can effectively reduce the incidence and mortality of colorectal cancer.
As the population ages, the suitable cohort for colorectal cancer screening is expected to climb to 758 million by 2030 in China. The corresponding market size of molecular diagnostic screening like IColocomf® is expected to reach CNY 11.5 billion in 2030 according to Frost & Sullivan.
With the development of DNA methylation detection technology, policy support, people's enhanced health awareness, coupled with a capital influx, a number of domestic early screening companies will emerge, according to industry experts.