HANGZHOU, Aug 21, 2021 - (ACN Newswire) -  New Horizon Health (6606.HK) (the "Company"), the first public listed cancer screening company in China, has today announced its financial report for the first half year ended 30 June 2021.

In the first half of 2021, the Company's total revenue was RMB43.9 million, a year-on-year increase of 317%. Gross profit was RMB24.7 million, up 1,000.2% from the same period of 2020. Gross profit margin also climbed from 21.3% in the same period of 2020 to 56.2%.

ColoClear, the first and only molecular cancer screening test approved by National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) in China, realized revenue of RMB14.2 million in the first half of 2021, an increase of 149% year-on-year. Its shipment volume was about 121,500 units in the first half of the year, a rise of 392% over the same period last year, and its gross profit margin increased from 33.9% in the same period of 2020 to 56.6%. Pupu Tube, the first and only self-conducted fecal immunochemical test (FIT) screening product approved by NMPA in China, recorded revenue of RMB29.6 million in the first half of 2021, representing year-on-year growth of 623.7%. The product's gross profit margin also increased from 26.4% in the same period of 2020 to 59.0%.

The latest report issued by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) predicts that new cases of breast cancer and colorectal cancer around the world will increase the most in the next 50 years. The penetration rate for colorectal cancer screening in China was only 16.4% in 2019, while that in the United States reached 60.1%. The social and economic value of early cancer screening has quickly received attention and recognition from various domestic sectors in 2021, and the market is entering the fast lane at full speed.

Mr. Yeqing Zhu, Executive Director and CEO of New Horizon Health, said, "The year 2021 marks the first year for the regulation, innovation and evolution of China's early cancer screening industry. As progress relies on strength, New Horizon Health has just opened a new chapter of growth. The strong sales growth of ColoClear and Pupu Tube proves that home-based cancer screening tests have successfully gained recognition from target groups and addressed the urgent needs of consumers in upgrading their health. The improvement in gross profit margin was driven by the rapid and determined execution of our diversified commercial layout in the first half of the year, which significantly increased the average selling price of both products. The higher sales volume has also enabled more efficient management of our operating facilities, further reducing our unit operating cost."

Mr. Zhu added, "The recognition from clinical experts and doctors is the cornerstone of our market expansion and product development. In January and April this year, the Company's proprietary multi-target stool-based FIT-DNA test technology was included within the first national 'Guidelines for Prevention and Treatment of Colorectal Cancer' and 'Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology (CSCO) Diagnosis and Treatment Guidelines' initiated by the National Cancer Center of China. The FIT-DNA test is the only molecular cancer screening and genetic testing technology presently included in national guidelines. Meanwhile, our marketing team has also expanded by 137% to 270 people in the first half of 2021. The launch of ColoClear to public hospitals across various provinces and cities has progressed smoothly. As a pioneer and leader in cancer screening in China, we are committed to investing in awareness and compliance education for cancer screening. Pupu Tube, an entry-level product for home-based self-testing for cancer detection costing less than RMB100 per unit, has become the vanguard of market education and sinking the vast grassroots. In the second half of the year, we will continue to build up our professional team structure and strengthen our cooperation and promotion with medical check-up centers, insurance organizations, online medical consultation platforms, pharmacies, and other authorized institutions. ColoClear will soon see an explosion of promotion".

Continues to promote early cancer screening compliance advantages and build a diversified business presence

The "First Certificate for Early Cancer Detection in China" approved by the NMPA of China on 9 November 2020 has set a benchmark for compliance in the cancer screening industry. Capitalizing on its advantageous position as the first cancer screening compliant company in China, after its successful listing in Hong Kong, New Horizon Health has quickly established in-depth strategic partnerships with leading brands across several sectors. Such cooperation accelerated the implementation of diversified business presence and promoted ColoClear and Pupu Tube to become the exclusive promotional products of various strategic cooperation platforms.

The cooperation with AstraZeneca China has strongly supported the Company's expansion into China's digestive disease prevention and treatment sector and consolidated its advantages in the in-hospital clinical market. The partnership with JD Health has realized the in-depth alignment of the platforms of New Horizon Health and JD.com and the Company's user service system, an important step forward for its conducting e-commerce marketing. While the cooperation with Ping An Healthcare has enabled the first closed-loop solution integrating Internet medical and healthcare in China, marking a major advance from online diagnosis and treatment to cancer prevention and screening. The cooperation with China Post has filled the gap in intestinal screening, and cancer prevention and treatment in China's grassroots market while educating the user in the vast township market. The partnership with PICA Health has empowered three million village doctors to promote intestinal health and prevent intestinal diseases in remote rural areas with severe deficiencies of diagnosis and treatment resources and shortage of colonoscopy equipment.

The only stool-based FIT test included in two medical guidelines and commercialized to clinical markets

Hospital market access and clinician education are the keys to the promotional efforts to hospitals for New Horizon Health. The multi-target stool-based FIT-DNA testing technology developed by New Horizon Health has become the sole colorectal cancer screening and DNA test technology recommended by two medical guidelines in January and April 2021: The "China Guidelines for the Screening, Early Detection and Early Treatment of Colorectal Cancer" was compiled by the National Health Commission and published by the National Cancer Center; and the latest edition of the "Guideline for Diagnosis and Treatment of Colorectal Cancer" was published by the Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology (CSCO).

With the implementation of colorectal cancer early screening standards and regulations, negative predictive value (NPV) and sensitivity have become the industry standards for the selection and performance evaluation of early cancer screening products. New Horizon Health's clinical team has aggressively conducted a series of academic seminars and clinical trials to continuously promote the multi-target stool-based FIT-DNA testing technology into the existing clinical segment and implement the technology into the practice and application of clinically-related fields.

Striving its utmost to invest in popular science education for early cancer screening in multiple formats across platforms and in pursuit of continuous innovation

As a leader in the early cancer screening industry, New Horizon Health has always adhered to spare relentless effort in investing in market education. In the first half of the year, New Horizon Health continued to promote early cancer screening education to the general public.

On 15 April 2021, the Committee of Colorectal Cancer of the Chinese Anti-Cancer Association and the People's Daily Health App co-launched China's first-ever "Early Cancer Screening Day" during the "Nationwide Promotion Week for Popular Science Education on Oncology", making early cancer screening an important event in China's strategic public health campaign. Subsequently, New Horizon Health has organized its first branded health awareness day with the theme of "Changing Life Trajectory" inviting seven industry national clinical experts. The live streaming of the event recorded 5 million views. During the 618 Festival, New Horizon Health teamed with Kuaishou Health and Xiaohe Health to launch a popular science short video campaign featuring intestinal health, early screening, and cancer prevention. More than 80 million views were recorded by the two platforms. During the same period, New Horizon Health ranked No. 1 in industry sales in the DNA test category segment and in sales of a single product on JD.com as well as No. 1 in terms of spending in the healthcare product list on 18 June.

R&D pipeline progresses as planned, while overseas cooperation and business expansion focuses on building future pipeline capacity

The approval of the UU Tube is progressing on schedule, and preparations for the kickoff of the clinical trial of CerviClear is proceeding smoothly. New Horizon Health is accelerating its R&D in multiple product pipelines, and has heavily invested in the development of biomarker R&D capability for, and the building of, the next-generation sequencing technology platform. The Company continues to make additional investments, expand automated production lines, and enhance production and testing capabilities to meet the fast-growing demand.

Moreover, New Horizon Health has officially commenced overseas strategic cooperation, actively introducing advanced technologies and focusing on future new pipeline layout and capacity expansion. The listed company New Horizon Health contributed US$30 million to the establishment of NHH Venture Fund, L.P.  Fundraising for the first phase of the Fund was completed on 20 August 2021. The Fund is to focus on investing in molecular diagnostic technology to promote disease screening and early testing for cancer and other serious diseases. In July 2021, New Horizon Health and Proteomedix have forged a partnership for R&D cooperation and investment in its convertible debt. In addition, in August 2021, New Horizon Health and Epigenomics AG have signed an asset purchase agreement.

About New Horizon Health
Founded in 2015, New Horizon Health is the pioneer and market leader in China's cancer screening sector focusing on early detection of high-incidence cancers at home. It aims to promote innovation in cancer screening technology and expedite the widespread take-up of cancer screening technology in China. On 18 February, 2021, New Horizon Health was successfully listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong under the stock code of 6606.HK, becoming the "first cancer screening stock in China".

New Horizon Health's two colorectal cancer screening products, ColoClear and Pupu Tube have been approved by the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) and have commercialized. ColoClear is the first and only cancer screening product approved by the NMPA in China. In addition, the Company also has two pipeline candidates for gastric and cervical cancer screening respectively. The Company holds global rights in all its marketed and pipeline products. New Horizon Health has a 100,000-grade clean production workshop accredited with ISO13485 international certification, and third-party medical laboratories in Beijing, Hangzhou and Guangzhou, that are certified and licensed to practice by the local Health Care Commission, with an annual testing capacity of 2 million samples, and extensive cooperation with hundreds of hospitals, medical check-up centers, insurance companies, pharmacies and online channels.


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