BRIEF—Fosun Pharma investing in Glycotest

UK-based NetScientific announced the completion of a $10 million Series A funding for Glycotest with Fosun Pharma, a Chinese pharmaceutical company with a market capitalization of HK$71 billion ($9.0 billion).

As part of the transaction, Fosun will invest an initial tranche of $3 million, with another $7 million due upon the completion of certain milestones, in return for a 40% interest in Glycotest.

Fosun Pharma will receive the rights to develop and commercialize the HCC Panel in China, for which Glycotest will receive a royalty, with Glycotest retaining rights to ex-China markets.

The transaction still needs to be approved by regulatory authorities in both China and the US (where Glycotest is based).

Approval is expected in around 30 days’ time, note analysts at Edison Investment Research.

Glycotest excels in hard-to-find HCC

Recent clinical results confirmed those from earlier studies, which demonstrated that the HCC test could efficiently identify 86% of patients who were missed by an alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) test and even 78% of those who were AFP-negative in the early-stage disease cohort.

This supports the commercial proposition for the test, because the ability to catch more patients at an earlier stage will allow them to be treated surgically and significantly reduce downstream costs.