Genecast raises 14.3 billion won in Series B funding

GeneCast, which developed the Allele-Discriminating Primer System (ADPS), a core technology for liquid biopsy cancer diagnostics, announced on the 8th that it had raised a total of 14.3 billion won.

The investment completed GeneCast’s Series B round. New investors included GC Holdings, GC MS, KB Securities, KDB Capital, DK&D, and P&P Investment. Existing investors Partners Investment and Timewise Investment also participated in the follow-on round. The amounts invested by each firm were not disclosed.

GeneCast’s proprietary ADPS platform combines “ADPS smart DNAP,” an innovation in DNA polymerase, a key component of molecular diagnostics, with its proprietary primer-probe design technology and reaction buffer optimization technology. With a detection sensitivity of 0.01% in real-world clinical settings, the platform can precisely analyze circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in stage 1 cancer patients using liquid biopsies.

GeneCast has completed European CE-IVD registration for its EGFR mutation diagnostic kit, which targets a key gene in non-small cell lung cancer, and its BRAF mutation diagnostic kit, which targets a key gene in melanoma and thyroid cancer. The company plans to complete CE-IVD registration for its KRAS and JAK2 mutation diagnostic kits by the end of this year.

In particular, the EGFR mutation diagnostic kit is undergoing the U.S. FDA’s Class III premarket approval (PMA) process, a first for a domestic in vitro diagnostics company.

“This funding will allow us to proceed without disruption with FDA clinical trials, which entail astronomical costs,” said GeneCast CTO Dr. Lee Byung-chul. “We will accelerate development of new technologies for early detection of different cancer types by further advancing ADPS.”

GeneCast is currently conducting clinical tests with Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a Harvard Medical School-affiliated hospital, to gather clinical data on its ADPS cancer gene diagnostic kits. It is also negotiating companion diagnostic partnerships with several large global pharmaceutical companies.