The developer of nanopore-based fourth-generation DNA sequencing technology Qitan plans to commercialize its nanopore gene sequencer
Qitan Technology (Qitan) (Chinese: 齐碳科技) announced that it had raised CNY 700 million in Series C funding round, the largest financing in the field of biotechnology in the primary market, which was led by Meituan (Chinese: 美团), with participation from existing investors HuaGai Capital (Chinese: 华盖资本), BioTrack Capital (Chinese: 博远资本). HaoYue Capital (Chinese: 浩悦资本) acted as the exclusive financial advisor. Proceeds will be mainly used to expand product matrix, accelerate the launch of medium and high-throughput sequencing platforms, explore diverse application scenarios, and expand global business.
Prior to this round, Qitan had completed a Series A funding round worth more than CNY 100 million in May 2020 and a Series B funding round worth more than CNY 400 million in June 2021.
Co-founded by prestigious interdisciplinary doctors in 2016, Qitan focuses on the development of nanopore gene sequencers. In December 2021, Qitan launched QNome-3841 and became the first Chinese firm and only the second in the world to commercialize fourth-generation sequencing technology. The fourth-generation nanopore gene sequencer has a wide range of applications including immunotyping as well as the real-time detection of pathogens, tumor genomes and intestinal flora, which can realize rapid detection of tumor genomes based on structural mutations and early screening of cancers based on DNA methylation detection. It also has the advantages of fast sequencing speed, low cost, compact and portable design.
Qitan has entered into the commercialization stage in 2022. It plans to improve the nanopore gene sequencing technology solutions and achieve high volume production. To achieve this goal, Qitan has built the first nanopore gene sequencer production base in Chengdu Tianfu International Biological City, which can produce 2,000 sequencers per year, and 1 million detection reagents and chips.
Qitan's competitors include MGI Tech (Chinese: 华大智造), Berry Genomics (Chinese: 贝瑞和康), and Gene+ (Chinese: 吉因加).