A Gene Solutions lab located in District 10, Ho Chi Minh City/ Photo credit: Gene Solutions

Gene Solutions, which bills itself as Vietnam’s largest genetic testing company, has raised US$21 million in a series B round from Mekong Capital. This follows a US$15 million investment that the private equity investor made in the company in 2021.

Gene Solutions is one of Mekong Capital’s recent bets in biotech, a sector that has been arguably underserved by venture capital firms in Vietnam.

In a previous interview with Tech in Asia, Mekong Capital partner Chad Ovel noted that significantly lower regulatory costs allow biotech founders in the country to bring their products to market faster.

The Vietnamese gene testing firm also seems to fit Mekong Capital’s investment criteria of having a proven business model. The company says its flagship non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) product has been widely adopted in Vietnam via a network of about 2,000 hospitals and clinics in the country.

Founded in 2017 by Vietnamese scientists with education backgrounds in the US, Gene Solutions wants to make genetic testing affordable and accessible especially to people in developing countries.

Nghia Nguyen, co-founder and CEO of Gene Solutions, tells Tech in Asia that most women in the country have to pay out of pocket for NIPT services, which is a prenatal blood test that analyzes fetal DNA to determine the baby’s risk of developing specific abnormalities.

Gene Solutions said its technology has slashed NIPT waiting time from weeks to only five to seven days, with an accuracy of up to 99%. Its test also costs about a fraction of the price global competitors offer.

The key to lowering cost, the company said, lies in its ability to develop its algorithm in-house. According to one of the team’s published papers, its triSure algorithm has proven to work better for “pregnant women in low-income settings such as Vietnam, providing low-risk screening option to reduce the need for invasive diagnostic tests.”

Since 2022, the startup has also expanded its product offerings to cover multicancer early detection, personalized cancer tracking, and precision cancer treatment for Southeast Asian countries.

Nguyen said Gene Solutions’ study in cancer detection using circulating tumor DNA has gained international recognition for its cost-effective approach, especially in developing countries.

The firm aims to raise a new US$50 million round by the end of this year to accelerate its regional expansion. 

Gene Solutions has already established operations in Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia. It also expects to open an oncology laboratory in Singapore in November this year to meet Southeast Asia’s growing demand for cancer testing.

See also: Why this Vietnam-based PE firm doesn’t bet on startups