Ping An Ventures Takes Equity Stake in 20/20 GeneSystems

CHICAGO, Jan. 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- 20/20 GeneSystems, Inc., a company positioned at the intersection of tumor biomarker diagnostics and big-data healthcare analytics, today announced at the One Med China Forum that it has raised $4.5 million in new Series A equity funding. Major investors in this round include Ping An Ventures, the venture capital division of China's largest insurance company, and several family offices and individual investors, many affiliated with the Keiretsu Forum, one of the world's largest Angel investor network.

Investment to Accelerate Commercialization of Lung Cancer Test in China
The funds will support 20/20's efforts to customize for the Chinese market its proprietary algorithm for blood biomarker testing for cancer. The algorithm will then be made available to hundreds of hospitals and Health Check centers throughout China using a cloud based software-as-a-service (SaaS) model. "We look forward to making a large impact in helping to reduce lung cancer mortality in China, among the highest in the world due to very high smoking prevalence and air pollution," said Jonathan Cohen, 20/20's CEO. "Beyond China, we plan to rapidly introduce our novel technology in other Asian nations, Europe, and the U.S.  Ping An, as a major provider of health insurance in China, will be an extremely important strategic partner in this effort."

Headquartered in Rockville, Maryland, 20/20 has developed, validated, and undergone clinical testing of a blood test for the early detection of lung cancer. The test measures a panel of tumor biomarkers and utilizes a proprietary algorithm to combine the biomarker values to generate a unitary risk score. The company has demonstrated that their algorithmic approach is more accurate than testing approaches commonly used in China and other countries that routinely test blood for various cancers. 

The relationship between Ping An and 20/20 was facilitated by Med Qiao, which 20/20 met at the 2015 One Med China Forum. Med Qiao, a binational strategic consulting firm, is working with 20/20 on both its financing and operational activities in China. "20/20 has great technology and a management team that understands the unmet needs of the Chinese medical market," said Jiang Zhang, Director of Ping An Ventures. "We are enthusiastic about supporting innovative companies like 20/20 to benefit our 200 million customers." 

Chris Apfel, M.D., Ph.D., a physician and biostatistician who also heads the Life Science Committee of the Keiretsu Forum chapter in San Francisco noted "many in our Angel group are excited about 20/20 because it is addressing big, global medical problems in a novel way by leveraging large patient data sets, proven biomarkers, together with next generation analytics and computing platforms." Dr. Apfel is joining the 20/20 Board along with Ping An's Jian Zhang.

About 20/20 GeneSystems
20/20 GeneSystems is a Rockville, MD cancer diagnostics company positioned at the intersection of tumor biomarkers and cloud based, big data analytics.  20/20's first cancer test—a blood test for the early detection of lung cancer—test marketed in the Washington, D.C. area will now be commercialized on a large scale in both China and the U.S.  The company's finances are supported by stable revenues and profits from an existing patented field test which has been established as a "Gold Standard" in the biosecurity and emergency responder community.

About Ping An Ventures
Ping An Ventures is a professional VC under Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, with focused interest in startups of emerging innovation. It is committed to helping its portfolio companies grow and succeed in the China market by providing not only funding but also managerial advice, introductions to Chinese key opinion leaders and partners, and other needed resources.  A Fortune 100 Global Company, Ping An's Chairman & CEO was named to Fortune's 25 Top Business Leaders of 2015. 

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