Cancer Cell

What Cancer Cell does

Cancer Cell (Suzhou Kansaier Medical Laboratory Co., Ltd., 苏州堪赛尔医学检验有限公司) is a Suzhou-headquartered, privately-held contract research organization founded in January 2014 by returnee scientists, positioned as China's first CRO dedicated to animal tissue pathology testing and diagnosis. The company's core platform spans hard tissue sectioning using German-imported EXAKT precision grinding equipment (producing non-decalcified sections that preserve soft/hard tissue and implant relationships), immunohistochemistry (IHC), routine H&E and special staining, custom tissue microarray (TMA) fabrication, and microscopic image analysis including 2D-to-3D reconstruction and bio-stereological parameter derivation. Underpinning the services are 30+ in-house developed reagent products, a multi-organ pathology sample bank, and three granted invention patents including an eye tissue fixative.

The company operates a direct-sales GTM targeting pharmaceutical companies, biotech firms, and medical device developers, supplemented by a content-marketing channel via a technical consultation blog. Revenue is generated through professional services sold on a per-unit/per-project basis (special staining at ¥65-¥80/slide, GLP-compliant toxicology pathology packages), catalogued TMA products priced ¥600-¥2,600 per slide, and laboratory reagent kits and consumables. Named enterprise customers include Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine, Innovent Biologics (sole technical service supplier since March 2019), and NAMSA China (exclusive pathology testing agent since March 2020 after passing GLP on-site audit). The company is headquartered in Suzhou Bio-Nano Park with regional labs in Shanghai, Nanjing, and Hangzhou, connected by a remote pathological diagnosis system for centralized QC. Operations remain within China; no global footprint is claimed. The company has been funded primarily through Suzhou municipal grants (2015 SMB Entrepreneurial Fund, 2016 Gusu Angel Plan) and a 2017 capital increase that brought registered capital to ¥10 million.

Name

Cancer Cell

Legal name

苏州堪赛尔医学检验有限公司

Website

https://cancercell.com.cn

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Suzhou-based GLP-certified CRO providing animal tissue pathology testing — hard tissue sectioning, tissue microarrays, IHC, and special staining — for pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device developers across the Yangtze River Delta.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Contract Research Organization (CRO) / Pathology Testing Services

NAICS

Medical Laboratories (621511), Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714)

SIC

Services-Medical Laboratories (8071), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Toxicology & Safety Assessment CROs (GLP) (HLAGAAAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Cytology & Histopathology Diagnostics (IHC, ISH, tissue-based assays) (HLAAALAI), Proteomics & Biomarker Analytical Testing (HLAGADAG)

Keywords

• Animal tissue pathology
• Histopathology testing services
• Tissue microarray products
• Immunohistochemistry services
• Preclinical safety evaluation

Headquarters

HQ city

Suzhou

HQ country

China

HQ region

Asia

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Technical/Scientific Services: Provides animal tissue pathology testing services including hard tissue sectioning, tissue microarray, immunohistochemistry, routine staining, special staining, and image analysis. Revenue is generated on a per-service, per-unit transaction basis.
2. Product Sales (Reagents and Tissue Microarrays): Sells tissue microarray products (e.g., cancer tissue microarrays ranging from ¥600 to ¥2,600 per unit), paraffin blank sections, and histopathology reagent kits. Also sells specialized consumables such as anti-drop slides.
3. Laboratory Consumables Sales: Sells consumables including IHC reagent kits, routine staining reagent kits, and special staining reagent kits.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Cancer Cell (Suzhou Cancer Cell Medical Laboratory Co., Ltd. / 苏州堪赛尔医学检验有限公司) is China's first contract research organization (CRO) dedicated to animal tissue pathology testing, providing GLP-compliant histopathology services and related reagent/microarray products for life science research, drug development, and medical device preclinical safety evaluation. The company delivers hard tissue sectioning (via German EXAKT equipment), tissue microarray customization, immunohistochemistry (IHC), routine and special staining, microscopic image analysis, fluorescence technology, and panoramic scanning, alongside a catalog of in-house developed reagent kits, cancer tissue microarrays, and paraffin-embedded sections.

Product overview

Cancer Cell is a specialized medical laboratory service provider offering a comprehensive portfolio of histopathology and pathology testing services for life science research, drug development, and medical device testing. The core product portfolio comprises technical services including hard tissue sectioning (using German EXAKT equipment), tissue microarray customization, immunohistochemistry (IHC), routine staining (H&E), special staining, and microscopic image analysis with 3D reconstruction capabilities. Supporting products include paraffin-embedded tissue sections (covering 8 cancer types), tissue microarrays (11+ cancer types), IHC reagent kits, staining reagent kits, and laboratory consumables. The company operates multiple regional laboratories in Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Nanjing, connected via a remote pathological diagnosis system for quality control.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• 3D-Transwell: Registered trademark for cell migration 3D chamber products

Products and services

• Hard Tissue Sectioning Service (硬组织切片技术服务) Pathology service using German-imported EXAKT precision cutting and grinding equipment to prepare non-decalcified medical tissue sections (10μm or thicker), preserving original tissue structure relationships between soft/hard tissue and implants for medical device and bone research.
• Tissue Microarray Customization Service (组织芯片定制服务) Custom tissue microarray fabrication arranging hundreds of tissue specimens in regular array format on a single slide to enable high-throughput in situ tissue research such as cancer biomarker screening.
• Immunohistochemistry (IHC) Service (免疫组化技术) IHC service applying antigen-antibody specific binding and chromogenic tissue chemistry staining to detect and localize chemical components in tissue specimens for qualitative, localization, or quantitative research.
• Routine Staining Service (常规染色技术服务) Routine H&E (Hematoxylin and Eosin) tissue staining for basic morphological analysis of tissue sections.
• Special Staining Service (特殊染色技术服务) Special histochemical staining techniques for detecting specific structures and components in tissue specimens, covering connective tissue, muscle, nerve, lipids, carbohydrates, and endocrine systems.
• Microscopic Image Collection and Analysis Service (图像采集与分析技术) Quantitative morphological analysis service including image processing, structural feature extraction, two-dimensional geometric measurement, photometric parameter analysis, 3D reconstruction from 2D slice data, and bio-stereological parameter derivation.
• Fluorescence Technology Service (荧光技术) Tissue fluorescence analysis services including fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) for cytogenetic and gene expression studies.
• Panoramic Tissue Scanning Service (全景扫描) Panoramic tissue scanning service for digitizing entire tissue sections for downstream analysis and archival review.
• Pathological Scoring Service (病理评分) Pathological scoring service providing semi-quantitative analysis scoring standards for tissue evaluation.
• Paraffin-Embedded Tissue Sections (石蜡空白切片) Off-the-shelf paraffin-embedded cancer tissue sections covering gastric, kidney, lung, liver, colorectal, breast, mesothelioma, and brain glioma for research use.
• Cancer Tissue Microarrays (组织芯片, cancer research series) Cancer tissue microarray products for cancer research covering esophageal, gastric, colorectal, kidney, lung, breast, prostate, liver, cervical, bladder, and pancreatic cancers in panel sizes from 20-point to 120-point (¥600 to ¥2,600 per slide).
• IHC Reagent Kits (IHC试剂盒) Immunohistochemistry reagent kits for detecting antigens in tissue sections using antibody-antigen binding reactions, developed in-house by Cancer Cell.
• Routine Staining Reagent Kits (常规染色试剂盒) Routine staining reagent kits for tissue section processing and basic morphological visualization, including H&E reagents, developed in-house.
• Special Staining Reagent Kits (特殊染色试剂盒) Special staining reagent kits for detecting specific tissue components in various specimen types, developed in-house by Cancer Cell.
• Laboratory Consumables (耗材) Specialized laboratory consumables including anti-floating slides used in immunohistochemistry workflows.

Quantifiable outcome

• Contributed to publications in Nature Medicine, Immunity, and Cell Stem Cell (10+ impact factor journals)

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• NAMSA China (能盛（上海）医疗器械科技咨询有限公司)flagshipChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 March 2020NAMSA China conducted on-site GLP system audit of Cancer Cell in February 2020. In March 2020, Cancer Cell passed the audit and became the exclusive pathological testing agent for NAMSA China. This partnership grants Cancer Cell access to NAMSA China's pharmaceutical and medical device client network and establishes it as the sole provider of pathology testing services under NAMSA China's GLP system in China.
• Jiangsu Meifengli Medical Technology Co., Ltd. (江苏美凤力医疗科技有限公司)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 August 2019Cancer Cell entered a strategic cooperation with Jiangsu Meifengli in August 2019 for large animal pathological experiments. Meifengli provides large animal medical research capabilities while Cancer Cell provides pathological reading and reporting services, creating a comprehensive preclinical pathology service offering.
• Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine Co., Ltd. (江苏恒瑞医药股份有限公司)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 May 2019In May 2019, Cancer Cell became a technical service supplier for Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine, one of China's largest pharmaceutical companies, providing pathology testing services for their drug development programs.
• Innovent Biologics (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. (信达生物制药（苏州）有限公司)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 March 2019In March 2019, Cancer Cell became the sole technical service supplier for Innovent Biologics (Suzhou) for pathological testing services supporting their biopharmaceutical development pipeline.
• Suzhou Industrial Park CDC (苏州园区疾控中心)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2017In December 2017, Cancer Cell cooperated with the Suzhou Industrial Park CDC to establish the Suzhou National Biobank (苏州市国家级生物样本库), providing pathology expertise and infrastructure for the national-level biological sample repository.
• Soochow University (苏州大学)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 August 2014In August 2014, Cancer Cell established a joint graduate workstation with Soochow University, supporting graduate education and talent development while gaining access to academic research resources.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• WuXi AppTec: China's largest preclinical and clinical CRO offering integrated drug discovery, toxicology, pathology and bioanalytical services. Although far broader in scope, its preclinical pathology group is the most direct large-scale competitor to Cancer Cell's GLP-compliant histopathology services.
• Pharmaron: China-based preclinical CRO providing in vivo safety, DMPK and pathology services for global pharma. Comparable to Cancer Cell in serving drug-safety testing demand, but at significantly larger scale and geographic reach.
• Leica Biosystems: Global leader in histopathology instruments, reagents and workflow consumables used by both pathology labs and CROs. Not a direct service competitor, but adjacent on the reagent and instrumentation side of Cancer Cell's business.

Direct peers

• Joinn Laboratories: Chinese preclinical CRO specializing in nonclinical safety evaluation, toxicology and pathology for pharmaceuticals and chemicals. Overlaps with Cancer Cell on GLP-compliant animal pathology testing for regulatory submissions.
• Medicilon: Shanghai-based preclinical CRO offering toxicology, pathology and bioanalytical services. Direct competitor to Cancer Cell for outsourced GLP histopathology and safety assessment work in China.
• HD Biosciences: China-US preclinical CRO providing in vivo pharmacology, toxicology and histopathology services. Competes with Cancer Cell for biotech and pharma preclinical study contracts.
• Crown Biosciences: China-US oncology-focused preclinical CRO with translational and pathology services. Comparable to Cancer Cell in serving biopharma preclinical and translational research needs.
• Shanghai ChemPartner: China-based preclinical CRO offering discovery, safety assessment and pathology. Overlaps with Cancer Cell's service portfolio across pharma and biotech preclinical work.
• Frontage Laboratories: US-China contract research organization providing preclinical and clinical lab services including histopathology and IHC. Comparable to Cancer Cell on GLP-style preclinical analytical work for pharma.

Regional players

• KingMed Diagnostics: China's largest independent medical diagnostics network with extensive histopathology and IHC testing capacity. While primarily clinical diagnostics (not animal/GLP preclinical), it overlaps with Cancer Cell on tissue-based diagnostic workflows and Chinese lab footprint.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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 Cancer Cell