Singapore-headquartered healthtech company Lucence announced on Wednesday that it had successfully secured US$20 million in a IHH Healthcare-led funding round. Besides IHH Healthcare – Asia’s largest private healthcare provider with a focus on upmarket health services – other participants of the startup’s Series A funding round include Singapore government-owned investment firm SGInnovate, influential high networth individuals Koh Boon Hwee and Lim Kaling, and investment firm Heliconia Capital. The financing round also saw the participation of other existing investors.
The genome medicine company announced that the freshly acquired funds will empower the healthcare startup to deepen its research and development efforts by commencing future clinical studies for the testing and assessment of its liquid biopsy technology for early multiple cancer detection. As well, the capital secured will open up more avenues for its liquid biopsy technology to reach an even larger number of cancer patients across the continents of North America and Asia.
Lucence’s proprietary technology, AmpliMARK, powers LiquidHALLMARK, the company’s core liquid biopsy test which they claim is the world’s first blood test that is capable of effectively detecting both genes and viruses that cause cancer so that cancer patients can be given the most appropriate treatment. Their AmpliMARK technology is notable for being able to detect cancer signals in blood via signal amplification, which produces much higher accuracy rates, while their LiquidHALLMARK blood tests are capable of detecting cancer-causing mutations across more than 10 kinds of cancer, including breast, pancreatic, liver and lung cancers.
Founder and chief executive officer of Lucence, Dr. Min-Han Tan, said that the healthtech startup’s research findings can enable improved methods for cancer patients’ non-invasive cancer screening and profiling processes, thus innovating and altering the liquid biopsy space for the better. For example, one such result of their research efforts is the recognition of the circulating tumor-endothelial cluster. Dr. Min-Han Tan added that the cooperation and collaboration with IHH Healthcare, one of the world’s biggest healthcare groups by market capitalization, will further bolster their early cancer detection efforts and speed up their progress in the research and development of effective cancer treatments. The partnership with IHH Healthcare, which has a presence throughout the world, will also extend the reach of Lucence’s liquid biopsy technology to new destinations in America and Asia, thus granting access of the innovative technology to even more cancer patients that crucially need it.
According to Dr. Kelvin Loh, who is the designated chief executive officer of IHH Healthcare, the private healthcare group’s investment in the healthtech company will afford its many cancer patients the opportunity to access Lucence’s innovative liquid biopsy technology, which happens to be a significant key factor in IHH Healthcare’s efforts to make effective healthcare more affordable for its cancer patients, besides increasing the patients’ chances of overcoming cancer via the proper, exact choice of treatment. Dr. Kelvin also commented on the partnership with Lucence, saying that the leading private healthcare provider is looking forward to enhancing their collaborative efforts together and producing new medical solutions for cancer patients. They will also investigate new opportunities to work with other healthcare partners and allies across their network that share the same goals and visions, which will enable them to further improve and perfect their ability and capacity to develop precision medicine.
The Singapore-based healthcare startup, with the funds raised from its Series A funding round and strategic partnership formed with IHH Healthcare, will be able to extend the reach of their innovative and ground-breaking liquid biopsy technology to even more cancer patients around the world, and further improve the precision of its flagship LiquidHALLMARK sequencing blood test technology. Step by significant step, Lucence’s vision of achieving a world without avoidable cancer deaths is gradually becoming a reality.
