China-based cancer diagnostics technology provider New Horizon Health completed a $30m series E round on Monday backed by pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly through its Lilly Asia Ventures unit.
Investment firm Rock Springs Capital led the round, which included CR-CP Life Science Fund, a joint venture for conglomerates China Resources Group and Charoen Pokphand, as well as OrbiMed, Cormorant Asset Management, Qiming Venture Partners and Octagon Capital.
New Horizon has developed testing kits to diagnose stomach and colon cancer in the early stages. Reports in May this year suggested it had hired banks for an initial public offering in which it expected to raise $300m.
The series E funding will be allocated to business development in addition to research and development, clinical studies and commercialisation of the company’s technology. It boosted the company’s total funding to more than $160m, it said in a statement cited by DealStreetAsia.
Private equity firm Omniscient led New Horizon’s $20m series D round in April this year, investing with telecommunications firm SoftBank’s SBCVC unit, Qiming Venture Partners, Exome Asset Management and Duke Management Company, on behalf of Duke University.
The company raised $66m in a May 2019 series C round led by VMS Investment Group that included SBCVC and Legend Capital, the VC firm spun off by conglomerate Legend Holdings.
SBCVC and Legend Capital had participated in a series A round of undisclosed size for New Horizon in 2016 before returning for a $20m series B led by Qiming Venture Partners the following year. Haibang Venture and Linhui Fund are also among its early investors.
