(Yicai Global) June 20 -- Chinese gene sequencing company Axbio has secured USD100 million in its latest financing round in which a medical industry fund run by UK pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca and Chinese private equity firm CICC Capital took part.

The medical fund joint venture together with Shanghai-based Yunfeng Capital led the B-series, venture capital news website Lieyunwang reported today. Other participants included Singaporean health-dedicated investment firm CBC Group.

The new funding will allow Shenzhen-based Axbio to rapidly advance the development and commercialization of its new-generation sequencer in the fast-growing genomics market, a representative from CBC Group told Yicai Global. The firm’s first manufacturing facility in Wuxi, eastern Jiangsu province is due be completed by the end of the year, the person added.

Axbio’s nanopore-based low-cost single-molecule sequencing platform is extremely important for the precision medicine market, said Marco Ma, managing director of CBC Venture. It enables fast cancer diagnostics, rapid pathogen detection and drug development.

This is Axbio’s second fundraising round in nine months. In October last year, the company raised tens of millions of dollars in Series A+ financing led by several venture capital firms including Shanghai-based 5Y Capital.

Editor: Kim Taylor