Singapore's MiRXES raises US$77m to treble valuation as biotech craze catches on

SINGAPORE cancer diagnostics startup MiRXES has raised US$77 million from investors in a Series C round, as it pushes to commercialise its early cancer detection test kits globally.

This latest round, which brings the total amount of money raised to date to US$120 million, values the biotech at over US$500 million and could pave the way for a public listing, The Business Times understands.

According to people familiar with the matter, MiRXES is considering going public in biotech hotspots such as Hong Kong or the United States, to take advantage of investor appetite for scientific innovation fuelled by the pandemic.

The company declined to comment on its IPO plans or valuation, but chief executive Zhou Lihan remarked that MiRXES is planning to tap additional capital for its upcoming pipeline of several different cancer test kits in the next 18 to 24 months. He did not rule out the possibility that the financing could come from public markets.

This Series C round was led by CR-CP Life Science Fund, a 50-50 joint venture between China Resources Group and Thailand's Charoen Pokphand Group. Other investors include global healthcare investment firm Rock Springs Capital and Singapore-based EDBI.

Its valuation has increased more than three times since its US$40 million Series B round in 2018, which valued the startup at about US$160 million post-money.

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Founded in 2014, A*Star spin-off MiRXES has developed a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test kit that can detect cancer cells in the blood even at early stages when there are no symptoms. This is possible as its technology can pick up signals such as microRNA that are typically released by cancer cells into the blood.

The financing would help push its lead programme - a PCR blood test kit for early detection of gastric cancer - forward for regulatory approval and adoption in more countries.

The company is also planning to push this product, called GASTROClear, for regulatory approval in countries that have high rates of gastric cancer, such as China and Japan. GASTROClear now has approval as a Class C medical device from the Health Sciences Authority in Singapore, noted co-founder and CEO Dr Zhou.

Unlike traditional methods like an endoscopy, MiRXES's product is a "non-invasive way to detect cancer at early stages accurately and conveniently", said Dr Zhou.

Besides test kits for gastric cancer, MiRXES is also conducting large-scale clinical studies for other cancers such as lung, colorectal, liver, breast, and pancreatic cancers. Its trials have a total enrolment of more than 30,000 participants.

It is planning to raise more funds - possibly from the public markets - in order to fund the clinical trials and commercialisation for these cancer test kits.

While building up GASTROClear took about six years, Dr Zhou reckons this time frame would be shorter for other test kits as the necessary infrastructure and manufacturing processes are already in place.

As the company gears up for growth, Dr Zhou said that MiRXES aims to double its global talent pool to 400 staff over the next two years, focusing on areas such as research and development, and data science.

"We're essentially competing with the likes of Facebook, Grab, Shopee for tech talent… It's tough but we are hoping to have a 250-strong team in Singapore." Currently, 60 per cent of its staff - or 120 people - are based out of the city-state, and MiRXES is looking to maintain this ratio.

Dr Zhou added that preventive healthcare is now catching on globally, as the public is also generally much more "accepting" towards preventive testing after Covid-19.

MiRXES's PCR-based platform has opened up "a pathway of possibilities towards preventive healthcare and precision medicine", said Jay Kraska, an analyst at its investor Rock Springs Capital.

While the company has been working on PCR and mRNA technology for the past 20 years, it is only now that its technology has been brought to the front and centre of people's minds. "More people now understand the technology behind our products; going out to explain what we are doing becomes much easier," Dr Zhou noted.

The company, which also produces Covid-19 PCR test kits for Singapore, has been exporting its Covid-19 test kits globally.

Chu Swee Yeok, CEO and president of EDBI, said that MiRXES has "consistently built" diagnostic capabilities in Singapore, and "played an important role in successfully mass producing and deploying Covid-19 PCR test kits (Fortitude Kit) to over 45 countries".

Dr Zhou said that this has helped open doors to new markets such as Latin America, the Middle East and Europe, which are now using its RNA test kits for Covid-19. He hopes that this can translate into new customers for its cancer kits, which use the same underlying technology.

Additionally, because of Covid-19, many more countries have set up PCR testing capabilities which were not present before, Dr Zhou noted. "This increased PCR testing capabilities by about tenfold," he said, adding that the company hopes to tap this infrastructure to scale manufacturing processes.

"(Covid-19) has been a huge advantage to us, because we're developing a similar type of workflow for cancer."

Liu Da, managing director of CR-CP Life Science Fund, said: "MiRXES's best-in-class technology, differentiated business model, and strategic advantage with its headquarters in Singapore and infrastructure in major markets offer MiRXES a strong competitive advantage to access markets in Asia-Pacific and globally."

READ MORE: Pandemic gives Singapore biotechs a shot in the arm