Singapore firm comes up with world’s first molecular blood test for early detection of gastric cancer

Associate Professor Too Heng-Phon, co-founder of Mirxes, which developed the test kit for early detection of gastric cancer. - The Straits Times/ANN

SINGAPORE, Nov 27 (The Straits Times/ANN): When Associate Professor Too Heng-Phon was about to start biotech firm Mirxes back in 2010, he asked several of his PhD students to join him, but also warned them that it would be tough going.

Two of them decided to help set up the home-grown biotechnology firm, which went on to develop test kits that use blood-based microRNAs (miRNAs) to serve as biomarkers for early detection of cancers.