As a core field in the post-genomic era, glycomics provides new pathways for cancer detection, precision medicine, and targeted drug research and development. It serves as a crucial driving force for advancing life sciences and improving human health. In recent years, China has regarded glycomics research as one of the key areas to promote the progress of life sciences and the development of medical and health undertakings, and has introduced relevant policy plans and measures at multiple levels to encourage and support the research and application of glycomics. For instance, the National Natural Science Foundation of China launched the major research program "Decoding the Glycan Code of Life" in 2024; a series of key laboratories and research centers related to glycomics have been established; and the national "13th Five-Year Plan" and "14th Five-Year Plan" have emphasized research in life sciences and biotechnology.

Dr. Chen Cuiying has long been engaged in research on anti-liver cancer molecular biology in Europe since the 1990s. She has led a number of EU scientific research projects and China-Belgium scientific cooperation projects, and won the 2008 FFMI-Tumor Marker Latest Invention Award in Belgium for her discovery of the application of glycans as a new type of biomarkers. In 2012, Dr. Chen was invited by the China Association for Science and Technology to participate in the "Chunhui Program" (a program for academic exchanges and visits by overseas Chinese scholars), returned to China for academic exchange activities, and founded Xiansida (Nanjing) Biotechnology Co., Ltd. in Nanjing.

At that time, Jiangsu Province was one of the regions with a high incidence of liver cancer in China, and the market demand for products related to liver cancer detection, treatment, and prevention continued to grow. In addition, Nanjing provided strong support policies for high-level talents returning to start businesses, which ultimately led Dr. Chen Cuiying to decide to start her business in Nanjing. Back then, glycomics was still an emerging and cutting-edge research field in China, with low market maturity. Its application exploration in the field of clinical diagnosis was in the initial stage, and there was a lack of widely recognized clinical diagnostic products in the market. The emergence of Xiansida was an innovative and pioneering attempt in this field. With years of research experience in this field, Dr. Chen keenly recognized the huge potential and value of glycomics research in cancer detection, leading Xiansida to embark on a new journey of transforming glycomics research achievements into products.

Since then, focusing on liver cancer, Xiansida has gradually promoted two "flagship products"—"Jietaisi" and "Gandajian". As products in the emerging field of glycomics, their safety and effectiveness required strict and long-term clinical trials and evaluations. The journey from R&D to clinical application of Xiansida’s products can be described as "ten years of polishing a single sword". These two core products not only filled the gap in China’s glycomics-based liver cancer detection market but also greatly improved the accuracy and feasibility of early liver cancer diagnosis. They strengthened and supplemented the industrial chain in this field, injected new vitality into the development of China’s glycomics-based liver cancer detection technology, and are of great significance for promoting the progress of medical technology and improving the level of liver cancer prevention and treatment. Regarding the approval of Xiansida’s products, Yang Youming, General Manager of Xiansida, said: "The approval of these two products has established the value and direction of glycomics application in the field of tumor diagnosis, and confirmed the entire methodology. It is believed that more and more glycomics products will be approved for marketing in the future." He added, "From their launch in 2016 to their approval this year, the products have undergone nearly ten years of repeated verification. Even during the most severe period of the epidemic, under Dr. Chen’s leadership, Xiansida never slowed down its R&D pace." Currently, "Jietaisi" and "Gandajian" have won recognition in the industry and reached cooperation intentions with a number of top domestic medical institutions.

The development of Xiansida Biotechnology is a microcosm of the rise of China’s glycomics-based liver cancer detection field. With the gradual maturity of Xiansida’s products and the national attention to the field of glycomics R&D, Xiansida, as one of the earliest leading enterprises entering this field, has relied on its profound technical strength and comprehensive products to receive strong support from Jiangbei New Area in the early stage of its establishment, and also attracted the attention of the capital market.

Nanjing Innovation Investment Group first contacted Xiansida in 2020. In the following years, the Venture Capital Group visited Xiansida many times, conducted interviews and exchanges with the company’s core team and external experts, and demonstrated the company’s technical solutions, clinical data, and market potential. This opportunity enhanced the mutual understanding between the two parties and laid a solid foundation for subsequent investment cooperation. In 2022, Nanjing Innovation Investment Group, together with a number of investment institutions, completed a Series B financing of over 100 million yuan for Xiansida. Talking about this, Yang Youming expressed deep feelings: "This investment is of great significance to the company’s development. It provides a guarantee for the clinical trials and approval of the company’s core products, and also provides financial support for the company’s continued R&D and the construction of two major research platforms." He said, "Nanjing Innovation Investment Group adheres to the investment concept of not blindly pursuing short-term profits and moving forward steadily. This concept is exactly in line with the company’s needs at that stage of development, creating a good environment for us to focus on products and deepen technology. Secondly, Nanjing Innovation Investment Group has an extensive and in-depth layout in the biomedical field, providing us with a valuable resource integration platform that helps us integrate upstream and downstream resources and promote exchanges and cooperation between Xiansida and enterprises in the industrial chain. In addition, Nanjing Innovation Investment Group is a very important investment platform in Nanjing. Considering the optimization of the shareholder structure, we hope to better shape the corporate brand through this cooperation." Since then, the Venture Capital Group has actively cooperated with Xiansida to jointly plan and promote the market application of glycomics-related products. It has not only provided solid financial support to Xiansida but also taken the initiative to bridge connections in the post-investment phase, promoting Xiansida to carry out technical exchanges and cooperation with a number of listed companies, effectively supporting its market development and business expansion.

A relevant person in charge of the Third Investment Department of Nanjing Innovation Investment Group said: "The Venture Capital Group has long been committed to guiding and encouraging social capital to invest in the strategic emerging industries that the city focuses on developing. As an emerging blue ocean industry in recent years, the glycomics field has always been a key area of our focus. The investment in Xiansida reflects Nanjing Innovation Investment Group’s investment concept of supporting seed-stage and start-up technology innovation enterprises." At the same time, he also expressed expectations for Xiansida’s future: "Glycomics is another emerging research field after genomics and proteomics. Xiansida’s R&D team has a solid technical foundation in this field, and its glycomics R&D progress is at the forefront internationally. We hope that the Xiansida team will take advantage of the situation in the future, continue to develop new products with clinical value, and at the same time achieve better results in the commercialization of existing products. The Venture Capital Group will continue to introduce high-quality financial resources to help Xiansida develop."

Compared with traditional liver cancer detection methods such as abdominal ultrasound, AFP (alpha-fetoprotein) testing, and multi-slice spiral CT/MRI, Xiansida’s detection products are based on the molecular structure and relative content of glycans, and provide accurate diagnostic results after quantitative analysis by a computer software system. The detection accuracy can reach more than 85%, and early warning of cancer can be given at a relatively early stage. For liver cancer patients, if the disease can be detected and treated in a timely manner, their chances of survival are much higher—the 5-year survival rate can reach 58.4%, while the survival rate for advanced liver cancer is only 23.8%, and even less than 2% for end-stage liver cancer. More than 80% of domestic liver cancer patients seek medical treatment actively only after symptoms appear, and more than 85% of patients are already in the middle or advanced stage when they see a doctor. Therefore, Xiansida’s products may change this situation, striving for more time and hope for liver cancer patients to cure the disease. Yang Youming said: "The value of early cancer detection and screening products is to strive for time and hope for lives, which has always been the vision of our company. If the disease can be detected early, treatment can be given early, and the possibility of cure will be greater."

Up to now, with glycomics as its core foundation, Xiansida integrates the R&D, production, and sales of in vitro diagnostic reagents and instruments, and is gradually moving towards becoming a leading enterprise in global glycomics translational medicine. After more than ten years of efforts, the company has established the GlyFace® Glycomics Detection Technology Platform and GlySeer® Glycomics Data Analysis Platform with independent intellectual property rights. These two platforms have accumulated rich data, providing support for the future application and development of glycomics. The company’s current product pipeline covers multiple areas such as tumors, neurodegenerative diseases, and physiological state assessment, with rich experience and achievement accumulation. In addition, the company has successively established joint laboratories with Peking University and Fudan University, jointly committing to the development and testing of glycomics drugs, and a large number of research results are being transformed into industrial applications. The company’s liver cancer diagnostic product "Jietaisi" was recognized as a national-level innovative product in 2018, and after its official approval this year, it will enter the market as soon as possible.

In recent years, with the in-depth development of scientific cognition and technological progress, glycomics has shown great potential in revealing the mysteries of life, exploring disease mechanisms, and researching and developing innovative drugs. However, at present, there is a lack of relatively mature drug products in this field at home and abroad, and the marketization process is relatively slow. Although foreign countries have taken the lead in technology, they are still mainly stuck at the technical level and have not yet achieved transformation. Domestically, benefiting from the vigorous development of the biomedical market in recent years, products are relatively more mature at the application end, and the transformation process has shown initial results, but it is still in the initial stage. Although the market remains to be developed, its unique advantages and broad prospects cannot be ignored. With in-depth research and technological breakthroughs, enterprises like Xiansida, relying on the iteration and upgrading of technology and products, may bring more positive and far-reaching impacts to patients. This will not only promote the innovative development of the medical and health industry but also contribute significantly to improving the quality of human life and extending healthy lifespan.

As one of the key domestic enterprises 布局 in this field, Yang Youming said: "In the future, Xiansida will continue to strengthen research on the basic theory of glycomics, drive the iteration and upgrading of technology platforms, and maintain the company’s first-mover advantage in the industry." In the future, Xiansida will continue to deepen technical research, explore new applications of glycans in disease diagnosis, strive to achieve technological breakthroughs in liver cancer detection and the diagnosis of other major diseases, and consolidate and expand its leading position in the industry.

It is worth mentioning that Xiansida has shown a forward-looking strategic layout in the field of glycomics. The company continues to deepen its presence in the broad market of early tumor screening and diagnosis as well as health detection products, and constantly expands its research boundaries. In the early tumor screening and diagnosis sector, it has steadily advanced the R&D of early diagnostic products for key tumor types such as gastric cancer, pancreatic cancer, and prostate cancer. Relevant products have entered key stages of registered clinical trials, clinical verification, and preclinical research respectively, marking the steady progress of the company’s early tumor diagnosis R&D system with glycomics as the core technology. In addition, Xiansida will also accelerate the development of products in the field of physiological health—for example, planning to develop an immune age assessment system based on glycomics research in the future. At the same time, Xiansida will gradually carry out R&D work on a series of testing equipment and raw and auxiliary materials.

Xiansida also has plans for the overseas market. Yang Youming said: "Xiansida will continue to strengthen basic theoretical research, promote the iteration and upgrading of technology platforms, and continuously enrich the product pipeline to meet the drug needs of different groups in different regions, thereby preparing for the internationalization of products. We also hope that more institutions and enterprises can participate in this process."

Over the 13 years since its establishment, Xiansida has quietly dedicated itself to the R&D and exploration of glycomics technology, and its products have undergone a long and rigorous R&D cycle and clinical trial tests. Today, these products are about to embark on a new journey of market application, and Xiansida is also about to enter a new chapter full of opportunities and challenges. Yang Youming said: "‘Develop good products and sell them well’ is an important concept that our company has always emphasized. In the future, we will strive to develop more and better products for patients, transform academic achievements into economic value, and thereby repay shareholders and society."