{"slug": "california-biotechs-at-home-urine-test-aims-to-catch-cancer-early", "title": "California biotech’s at-home urine test aims to catch cancer early", "summary": "San Diego biotech firm Craif raised $33 million in a series D funding round to advance development of its at-home urine test for early pancreatic cancer detection. The company's miSignal kit, already available in Japan at 2,500 medical institutions and 4,500 pharmacies, screens for 10 common cancers with about 90% accuracy. Craif plans to launch a U.S. clinical trial with 10 to 20 institutions, including UC San Diego, by the end of the year and aims to bring its pancreatic cancer test to market in 2028.", "body_md": "**Getting your**\n\n[Trinity Audio](//trinityaudio.ai)player ready...San Diego biotech firm Craif, which screens for [cancer](/tag/cancer/) through at-home urine tests, received $33 million this week to strengthen its research and development for pancreatic cancer testing.\n\n“We go to the doctor when we feel bad, but at that point it may be too late,” said Ryuichi Onose, CEO of Craif, explaining how cancer screening — and diagnostics in general — is too invasive and infrequent. “That’s why we’re starting in the toilet,” he said on Monday, the day before Craif announced its series D funding round.\n\nHospitalization rates for pancreatic cancer ranged from 5.9 to 15.1 per 100,000 San Diego County residents, [according to recent county health data](http://chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/content/dam/sdc/hhsa/programs/phs/CHS/map-atlases/2020-map-atlases/Pancreatic%20Cancer.pdf). The five-year survival rate for the disease is just 13% across all stages.\n\nCraif’s at-home testing kit — which is currently on the market in Japan — also tests for 10 of the most common cancers, including breast, lung, stomach, colorectal, esophageal and ovarian cancer. The test, known as miSignal, is offered at more than 2,500 medical institutions and 4,500 pharmacies across Japan, with more than 110,000 tests performed to date.\n\nThe testing kit arrives in the mail, Onose explained. The user scans the barcode, goes to the bathroom, seals the kit and waits for a courier to pick it up. “So you don’t have to go even one step outside,” he said. “You get the results back in two weeks, on your smartphone and also on paper.”\n\nThe diagnostics kit is available on a subscription basis — four times a year, twice a year or once a year — starting at the equivalent of $500.\n\nThe diagnostic technology works by testing microRNA — or miRNA — in urine. MicroRNA acts as a molecular messenger, sending signals to other cells. Cancerous cells, Onose says, are particularly tricky, because they spam the body with fraudulent miRNA messages to survive and grow.\n\nCancerous cells “send these microRNAs in your blood, and when the immune system tries to kill you, the microRNA says, ‘Hey, I’m not a bad cell, I’m a healthy cell.’ And they escape immune surveillance,” he said, explaining how miRNA act in the body and show up in the urine.\n\nCancerous cells emit 10 times more miRNA than healthy cells, which is what Craif’s diagnostic kit tests for, he said.\n\nThe accuracy of the tests is about 90% from stage one to four, [according to a study from Analytical Chemistry](https://pubs.acs.org/ancham/article/96/43/17145/86763/Early-Cancer-Detection-via-Multi-microRNA), a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the American Chemical Society.\n\nFor now, Craif’s U.S. ambitions are starting with pancreatic cancer, but it plans to grow its testing portfolio. For its testing kits to gain traction in the U.S. market, it’s essential that the kit qualifies for reimbursement, Onose said.\n\n“The United States is a hard market, but an important one,” Onose said, explaining that testing is difficult given the country’s diverse population and circuitous healthcare system.\n\nIn April, Onese and four other scientists moved to San Diego. The company signed a three-year lease in Sorrento Valley at 6370 Nancy Ridge Drive with an option to extend.\n\nOn the other side of the Pacific, Craif has over 150 employees in its Tokyo office. The Japanese team already has a multi-cancer test on the market. The pancreatic cancer test is in the pipeline to be approved by the end of 2027.\n\nFor their U.S. effort, Craif is planning to enroll 10 to 20 top institutions — including the University of California San Diego — to start a clinical trial by the end of the year. Craif is aiming to launch its pancreatic cancer test in 2028.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/california-biotechs-at-home-urine-test-aims-to-catch-cancer-early", "canonical_source": "https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/08/20/california-biotechs-at-home-cancer-test/", "published_at": "2026-08-20 18:53:55+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-20 19:14:24.968441+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "machine-learning"], "entities": ["Craif", "Ryuichi Onose", "University of California San Diego", "American Chemical Society", "Analytical Chemistry"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/california-biotechs-at-home-urine-test-aims-to-catch-cancer-early", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/california-biotechs-at-home-urine-test-aims-to-catch-cancer-early.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/california-biotechs-at-home-urine-test-aims-to-catch-cancer-early.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/california-biotechs-at-home-urine-test-aims-to-catch-cancer-early.jsonld"}}