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The company’s iGene technology is used to build a genetic profile with the intention of eliminating adverse drug reactions

Hong Kong-based Biotechnology company Prenetics announced today it raised a US$10 million Series A round led Ping An Ventures — the VC arm of Ping An Insurance, one of the largest insurance companies in China.

The round also got additional investment from Lippo Group’s Venturra Capital (Prenetics and Venturra signed a Memorandum of Understanding back in November 2015) as well as support from current investors 500 startups and Singapore’s COENT Ventures.

The investment will be used to bring new products to market.

Prenetics flagship product is a gene testing technology called iGenes that helps physicians prescribe prescriptions and dosages to treat patients. The company says it want to, “Democratize precision medicine in treating chronic illness and cancer patients”.

The genetic testing simply requires swabbing the inside of a person’s cheek and within 48 hours the genetic profile will be available through a mobile app.

“Every year millions of people suffer from adverse drug reactions (ADRs) and 190,000 deaths alone in China due to ADR’s. Our goal is simple: reduce adverse drug reactions, saving lives and reducing the cost of healthcare,” said Prenetics CEO Danny Yeung in an official statement.

Also Read: Hong Kong: The ‘Pearl’ of Asia’s app market

Ping An Ventures has been fairly active investing in Biotechnology in 2016. In January, the company made a US$4.5 million equity-based funding into Maryland, US cancer research center 20/20 GeneSystems Inc.

It also participated in a US$70million round into a company building technology to improve oral delivery of amino acids, The business is named Rani Therapeutics.

Yeung himself is no stranger to the VC-side of operations. He is a Founding Partner at SXE Ventures, a seed-stage investment company can boast about being one of the early investors in KFit back in May 2015.

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