Biotecan eyes world-leading position in medical big data

Shanghai Biotecan Pharmaceuticals Co Ltd, a company that specializes in the collection of medical big data, precision medicine and precision health research, is aiming to create the world's largest hospital lab network.

The network will facilitate resource and information sharing between the top domestic hospitals and the national biomedical industry base in the Zhangjiang National Innovation Demonstration Zone.

To achieve this goal, the company has, with the support of investors like Sinopharm Group Co, built 87 molecular medicine diagnostic centers in China, with more than 100 other projects currently in the negotiation phase.

"Biotecan will have the largest hospital lab network in the world, which can provide reliable medical data," said Lou Jingwei, chairman of the board of Biotecan.

Established in the Zhangjiang Biotech and Pharmaceutical Base, Biotecan has - since its inception in 2008 - been collecting significant amounts of gene and clinical performance data to help support patient treatment procedures.

Lou said that the company has collected the world's largest number of esophagus cancer samples and has conducted genome sequencing on more than 1,000 of its 507,000 samples. Apart from esophagus cancer, Biotecan also has a significant amount of data on diseases such as pancreatic cancer, prostatie cancer and liver cancer.

In a bid to better analyze medical big data, Biotecan also established a partnership with Shanghai's Fudan University and the two parties had jointly established the Fudan Zhangjiang Clinical Gene Research Center in 2013. The center is led by Shi Leming, a professor at Fudan University who is supported by China's 1,000 Talent Plan, an incentive program that provides outstanding individuals with financial grants.

Biotecan had participated in the construction of the Zhangjiang Innovation Demonstration Medical Big Data Service Platform in 2014. Earlier this year, the company obtained 380 million yuan ($57.22 million) in its B round financing and was listed on the National Equities Exchange and Quotations, also known as the New Third Board. Investors have often praised the company for its unique development concepts and business model.

Precision medicine has recently become a buzzword in the United States and China and both countries have been developing the field.

While medical experts believe that precision medicine is set for a bright future, privacy protection has become a public concern. Lou said that Biotecan does not record patients' personal information such as their names, home address or mobile numbers in the data system, and that only relevant data pertaining to genes, disease and medicine used during the treatments will be recorded.

According to Lou, the development of genomics, metabolomics and proteomics allow physicians to design the most effective treatment plans for many patients, which in turn aids the development of precision medicine.

The National Health and Family Planning Commission and the Ministry of Science and Technology have announced that Chinese scientists will draw up a precision medicine project this year that aims to develop more targeted diagnostics and treatments for specific diseases through advanced medical science and technology.

Looking ahead, Biotecan said it will spare no efforts in supporting China's precision medicine development.

"Our American counterparts are surprised when I share with them China's achievements in medical big data development," Lou said.

"Biotecan is confident of developing a medical big data platform that can be better than those in countries which are currently leading the field," he added.

So far, Biotecan has also carried out operations in the Shanghai Zhangjiang Boston Enterprise Park in Boston, US.

The biomedicine industry has been one of the key sectors in the Zhangjiang National Innovation Demonstration Zone. In recent years, Zhangjiang has constantly increased its efforts to support development of key enterprises, which have made a series of breakthroughs in fields such as antibody drugs, minimally invasive surgery devices and large digital medical equipment.