What OxCan does

OxCan (legal entity: Oxford Cancer Analytics) is an Oxford University spin-out founded in 2020 by Dr. Peter Jianrui Liu and Dr. Andreas Halner that develops a proteomics-based liquid biopsy platform for the early detection of lung cancer, now expanding to broader lung disease including Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). The company's core technology combines high-throughput mass spectrometry proteomics — measuring hundreds to thousands of proteins from a single blood draw — with its proprietary DEcancer machine learning framework, which performs biomarker signature selection, addresses class imbalance in cancer datasets, and integrates multi-omics interactions. The platform's published performance shows early-stage cancer detection sensitivity improvements from approximately 40% to over 80% while maintaining 99% specificity across eight cancer types. The company has assembled a multi-continent biobank with 10,000+ blood samples sourced from partnerships with 20+ healthcare centres including Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre (Toronto), and Sun Yat Sen University, providing the population diversity needed for globally generalizable biomarkers.

The company sells its diagnostic capability through direct enterprise engagement with healthcare systems, hospitals, and clinical partners rather than direct-to-consumer channels, with pricing not publicly disclosed but positioned as affordable for routine population screening. Revenue mechanics have not yet transitioned to commercial scale — the company is pre-revenue and relies on multi-year contracts and clinical study collaborations for current cash flow. Its go-to-market is anchored by NHS pathway integration and international healthcare system partnerships across the UK, Canada, and the US, supported by ISO 13485 certification achieved in 2025 as a precursor to diagnostic commercialization.

OxCan has raised approximately $16.7M across seed and Series A rounds from investors including We Venture Capital, Cross-Border Impact Ventures, Eka Ventures, Civilization Ventures, LifeArc, Macmillan Cancer Support, and DigitalDx Ventures. Leadership combines Oxford clinical pedigree with senior commercial experience from Roche (CEO Simon Meier, ~20 years including Roche Venture Fund), Biodesix (CTO Dr. Heinrich Roder, who previously took Biodesix from concept to Nasdaq IPO with a lung-cancer proteomics product reaching ~$50M revenue), and Pfizer (Head of Market Strategy). The company operates from a 2,400 sq ft facility at Inventa in Oxford's West End, with offices in Toronto (MaRS South Tower) and Aurora, Colorado, and a team of 15 across the UK, US, and Canada.

Name

OxCan

Legal name

Oxford Cancer Analytics

Website

https://oxcan.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cancer Diagnostics / Liquid Biopsy

NAICS

Medical Laboratories (621511), Medical and Diagnostic Laboratories (6215), Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714), In-Vitro Diagnostic Substance Manufacturing (325413)

SIC

Services-Medical Laboratories (8071), In Vitro & In Vivo Diagnostic Substances (2835)

akta.pro primary industry

Biomarker Discovery & Validation (omics, assay feasibility, clinical validation) (HLAAAMAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Proteomics & Biomarker Analytical Testing (HLAGADAG), Oncology Diagnostics (tumor profiling, MRD, liquid biopsy) (HLAAALAE), Laboratory Developed Tests (LDTs) & Specialized Clinical Lab Assays (HLAAALAN), Clinical Biomarker Testing Services (central labs, trial enrollment/monitoring assays) (HLAAAMAC)

Keywords

• Liquid biopsy diagnostics
• Early cancer detection
• Proteomics biomarkers
• Machine learning diagnostics
• Lung cancer screening

Headquarters

HQ city

Oxford

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Liquid Biopsy Diagnostic Tests: Blood-based diagnostic tests for early cancer detection sold to healthcare systems, hospitals, and clinics. Tests can be conducted in an affordable, minimally invasive, and routine manner with superior accuracy and localization capacity in large populations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

OxCan develops and sells proteomics-based liquid biopsy blood tests for early lung cancer detection. Its core commercial offering is a minimally invasive blood test that profiles the circulating proteome using high-throughput mass spectrometry and analyses the resulting biomarker signatures through its proprietary DEcancer machine learning platform. The tests are designed to be affordable, scalable, and deployable within existing clinical workflows for population-level lung cancer screening, with the underlying biomarker discovery services and ML analytics also offered as part of clinical research collaborations with healthcare partners.

Product overview

OxCan develops a portfolio of medical diagnostic products anchored by its DEcancer machine learning platform, which powers liquid biopsy blood tests for early cancer detection. The core offering combines a high-throughput proteomics biomarker discovery platform with tailored machine learning to identify cancer-specific protein signatures from a single blood draw. The primary product — a lung cancer liquid biopsy blood test — is designed for minimally invasive, affordable, and scalable early detection. OxCan's technology pipeline spans from discovery (biomarker identification using mass spectrometry proteomics) through analysis (DEcancer ML framework) to clinical deployment (readily implementable tests using standard laboratory procedures), with a focus on lung cancer as the initial application and applicability to other deadly cancers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• DEcancer: OXcan's machine learning platform built on scientific domain expertise for cancer detection using liquid biopsy data, featuring robust feature selection, class imbalance solutions, multi-omics integration, and biologically-informed algorithms.

Products and services

• Lung Cancer Liquid Biopsy Blood Test OxCan's primary diagnostic product: a protein-based blood test that provides a molecular signature for patients at high risk of lung cancer. The test uses advanced high-throughput proteomics technology to detect hundreds to thousands of proteins from a single blood draw, combined with the proprietary DEcancer machine learning platform to identify early-stage lung cancer biomarkers. It is designed to be minimally invasive, affordable, and scalable for broad population screening, achieving early-stage sensitivity of 80%+ at 99% specificity and supporting cancer localisation, sold to healthcare systems, hospitals, and NHS trusts.
• DEcancer Machine Learning Platform OxCan's proprietary machine learning framework built for liquid biopsy-based cancer detection and biomarker signature selection. The platform addresses key analytical challenges in cancer detection from liquid biopsy data, including robust feature selection for high-dimensional proteomics data, solutions for class imbalance, integration of multi-omics interactions, and biological-expertise-informed algorithms. Published in iScience (Cell Press) in 2023 with doubled detection rates across eight cancer types, the platform powers OxCan's commercial diagnostic tests.
• Proteomics Biomarker Discovery Platform OxCan's state-of-the-art proteomics platform using high-throughput multi-omics with an emphasis on proteins to discover previously unknown biomarkers for cancer early detection. The platform generates evidence-based insights from the circulating proteome, supports clinical decision-making in lung disease, and enables feature selection of succinct biomarker panels implementable using standard and approved clinical laboratory procedures.
• Prior Labs TabPFN-Enhanced Liquid Biopsy Analysis Partnership-enabled enhancement of OxCan's liquid biopsy analysis combining comprehensive proteome data with Prior Labs' TabPFN tabular foundation model. The integrated capability optimises pipeline design, applies frontier model techniques to structured proteomic data, supports secure deployment in laboratory environments, and enables more accurate differentiation across complex disease stages in lung disease for clinical decision-making.

Quantifiable outcome

• Doubled early-stage cancer detection rates from sensitivity in the 40%s to sensitivity in the 80%s while maintaining specificity at 99%
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

AI capability3 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• Prior LabscoreTechnology or Integration · 12 November 2025Collaboration to advance liquid biopsy and clinical decision-making in lung disease. Prior Labs' TabPFN foundation model will be applied to OXcan's proteomic data for more accurate differentiation across complex disease stages and better treatment decisions.
• Francis Crick InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLeading research institute partner supporting OXcan's cancer detection technology development. Collaborates on research and provides access to world-class scientific expertise.
• Cancer Research UKcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor cancer research charity providing support and funding for early cancer detection technology development.
• Oxford UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner providing research collaboration, clinical expertise, and access to Oxford's scientific ecosystem including the Target Discovery Institute.
• NHS Oxford University HospitalscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerClinical partner for conducting lung cancer detection studies and integrating liquid biopsy tests into NHS care pathways.
• Princess Margaret Cancer Centre (UHN)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLeading Canadian cancer centre collaborating on international studies and clinical validation of liquid biopsy technology.
• Sun Yat Sen UniversitymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerChinese academic partner for international research collaboration on cancer detection.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• GRAIL: GRAIL's Galleri multi-cancer early-detection test is the most direct competitor to OXcan, using a blood-based liquid biopsy (methylation-based) to screen for multiple cancers including lung. It is the category leader in commercialising liquid biopsy screening at population scale.
• Biodesix: Biodesix is a direct proteomics-based lung diagnostics peer; its commercial lung nodule and lung cancer blood tests (Nodify Lung, VeriStrat) use mass spectrometry proteomics. Founded by OXcan CTO Dr. Heinrich Roder and taken to Nasdaq IPO, making it the most directly comparable operating model.
• Freenome: Freenome is a multi-cancer early detection liquid biopsy competitor using a multiomics (cfDNA, proteins, methylation) blood test with a colorectal cancer screening lead indication. Closely comparable in stage, modality (multiomics) and target market (early cancer detection in average- and high-risk populations).
• Oncimmune Holdings: Oncimmune's EarlyCDT blood-based autoantibody lung cancer test is a direct lung-cancer screening peer. It uses a different molecular modality (autoantibodies vs OXcan's proteomics) but addresses the same clinical need: non-invasive early detection of lung cancer in high-risk populations.

Broad incumbents

• Exact Sciences: Exact Sciences (Cologuard, Oncotype DX) is a broad cancer diagnostics incumbent with a large commercial channel and, via its 2021 acquisition of Thrive Earlier Detection, a multi-cancer early-detection liquid biopsy programme directly comparable to OXcan's go-to-market.
• Guardant Health: Guardant Health is an established liquid biopsy incumbent with Guardant360 and Reveal MRD products, plus an early cancer screening pipeline (LUNAR programme). It is broader than OXcan (oncology + screening) but operates in the same liquid biopsy category and competes for the same hospital and payer relationships.
• Natera: Natera operates Signatera (MRD) and is expanding into early cancer detection and screening. While its core focus is MRD rather than primary screening, it competes for the same hospital systems, oncology budgets, and payer coverage that OXcan will need to win.
• Foundation Medicine: Foundation Medicine (a Roche subsidiary) provides comprehensive genomic profiling of solid tumours and is increasingly expanding into liquid biopsy and early detection. As a Roche-affiliated entity and given OXcan's Roche-veteran CEO, it is both a potential strategic acquirer and a broad incumbent competitor in cancer diagnostics.

Emerging players

• Singlera Genomics: Singlera develops ctDNA-based multi-cancer and single-cancer early-detection tests, including a lung cancer focus, with operations in China and the US. Comparable as an early-stage Asian-led multi-cancer liquid biopsy peer to OXcan's emerging-market partnerships.
• AnchorDx: AnchorDx is an early-stage liquid biopsy company focused on methylation-based lung cancer detection from blood and urine. It is a comparable emerging peer in lung-cancer-specific screening, especially relevant given OXcan's recent pivot toward broader lung disease.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/oxford-cancer-analytics

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles23 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds4 records

Investors14 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about OxCan