Chinese biotech scientists plan to use big data in war on cancer

When Nisa Leung was pregnant with her first child in 2012, her doctor in Hong Kong offered her a choice. She could take a prenatal test that would require inserting a needle into her uterus, or pay HK$1,000 more for an exam that would draw a little blood from her arm.

Leung opted for the simpler and less risky test, which analysed bits of the baby’s DNA that had made their way into her bloodstream. Leung then went on to do what she often does when she recognises a good product: look around for companies to invest in.

The managing partner at Qiming Venture Partners decided to put money into Chinese genetic testing firm Berry Genomics, which eventually entered into a partnership with the Hong Kong-based inventor of the blood test. Over the next few months, Berry is expected to be absorbed into a Chinese developer in a 4.3 billion yuan (HK$4.8 billion) reverse merger. And Leung’s venture capital firm would be the latest to benefit from a boom in so-called precision medicine, an emerging field that includes everything from genetic prenatal tests to customising treatments for cancer patients.

China has made the precision medicine field a focus of its 13th five-year plan, and its companies have been embarking on ambitious efforts to collect a vast trove of genetic and health data, researching how to identify cancer markers in blood, and launching consumer technologies that aim to tap potentially life-saving information. The push offers insight into China’s growing ambitions in science and biotechnology, areas where it has traditionally lagged developed nations like the United States.