Oxford Cancer Analytics

Oxford Cancer Analytics, trading as OXcan, is an Oxford and Toronto-based medtech company developing minimally invasive blood tests for the early detection of cancer. The company was born from breakthrough research at the University of Oxford, where its founders identified that proteins in the blood — rather than the more commonly studied circulating tumour DNA — could provide superior early detection signals for cancers that do not shed significant DNA into the bloodstream. OXcan's approach combines advanced proteomics with proprietary machine learning algorithms to identify molecular signatures associated with early-stage disease, starting with lung cancer, which causes more deaths globally than any other cancer type.

The company's core product is a protein-based liquid biopsy blood test that analyses thousands of proteins from a standard blood draw, narrowing them to a panel of key biomarkers indicative of lung cancer risk. Published research in the peer-reviewed journal iScience (Cell Press) demonstrated that OXcan's machine learning pipeline more than doubles detection rates across eight cancer types compared to existing methods. The test is designed to integrate into existing clinical pathways and healthcare screening programmes, offering a low-cost and scalable tool for identifying high-risk patients at a stage when curative treatment is still possible.

Founded in 2020, OXcan has partnered with over twenty healthcare centres across three continents and raised a total of $16.7 million in funding, including an $11 million Series A in January 2025 led by We Venture Capital and Cross-Border Impact Ventures. The round also drew support from Eka Ventures, Civilization Ventures, DigitalDx Ventures, Macmillan Cancer Support, and OKG Capital. OXcan is working towards commercialising its lung cancer blood test in the United States and United Kingdom, pending regulatory approval.