NEW YORK: Glycotest, Inc., a diagnostics company commercializing new and unique blood tests for life threatening liver cancers and fibrosis-cirrhosis, has received the second $3 million tranche of the $10 million Series A financing round from Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.
 The focus of this strategic investment is the advancement of the HCC Panel toward commercial launch in the United States, transfer of the HCC Panel technology to Fosun Pharma’s diagnostic subsidiary for commercialization in China, and further development of pipeline tests for liver fibrosis and cholangiocarcinoma, the second most prevalent form of liver cancer.
Under the terms of the agreement, Fosun Pharma receives a 40% equity stake in Glycotest and an exclusive license to manufacture and sell the Glycotest HCC Panel blood test in China in return for a royalty on sales to Glycotest. Funding of the remaining $4 million is due on completion of certain remaining milestones.
Glycotest’s HCC Panel is a unique algorithm-driven biomarker panel that takes advantage of the Company’s patented fucosylated biomarker technology and is intended for surveillance of patients known to be at risk for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
HCC is the predominant form of primary liver cancer and fastest growing cause of cancer death in the United States with an estimated three million or more at-risk patients in the US who are eligible for HCC surveillance testing. Currently, many patients with HCC are not identified until they have later stage disease and are no longer eligible for curative therapy because tests available now are ineffective for identifying patients with curable early-stage HCC.
Three clinical studies involving over 480 patients have shown the HCC Panel to be able to identify patients with curable early-stage HCC more effectively than AFP, the currently dominant blood test for HCC.
CEO Lawrence Cohen said, “The second tranche of our $10 million Series A funding round will enable us to advance the clinical validation study for the HCC Panel that we began at multiple major US clinical sites earlier this year, and continue to progress towards commercialization in the U.S. market. In addition, it allows us to continue the support of Fosun Long March Medical Science Co., Ltd. as they make progress toward launch of the HCC Panel in China.”