Portfolio News
PrimeraDx Gathers $20M Series C For Molecular Diagnostics
VentureWire
Brian Gormley
22 September 2009
PrimeraDx Inc. has raised a $20 million Series C round to expand commercialization of its molecular-diagnostics technology targeting infectious disease and other fields.
New investor CHL Medical Partners led the round, which drew return backers Abingworth Management, Burrill & Co., InterWest Partners, Invus Group, Malaysian Technology Development Corp. and MPM Capital. Valuation was not disclosed. The company, formerly Primera Biosystems, announced a $21 million Series B in January 2008.
PrimeraDx's STAR technology — Scalable Target Amplification Routine — enables simultaneous quantitative measurement of multiple nucleic acids. It is based on novel integration of polymerase chain reaction and capillary electrophoresis. The technology is implemented on an instrument called ICEPlex.
The platform provides a cost-effective, "walk-away" work flow for laboratories, according to the company. Its initial products are for infectious-disease management, particularly the identification of viruses that can infect organ-transplant patients, but the company plans to expand into oncology to support personalized cancer therapy management through diagnostic, prognostic, staging and therapeutic monitoring.
Company executives were not available for comment, but Nina Kjellson, who represents InterWest Partners on the board, said in an email that the company has made significant progress over the past two years through instrument and assay development and refinement. Its lead application, parallel testing of five viruses common to transplant patients, is focused and tractable for a small company, though its technology can be applied to the broader diagnostics and research markets, according to Kjellson.
PrimeraDx, based in Mansfield, Mass., also expanded its management team recently. In January, it said it hired two executives who formerly held positions at Focus Diagnostics, a subsidiary of Quest Diagnostics Inc. Lilly Kong, former vice president of research and development at Focus, joined as chief scientific officer, and Ming-Chou Lee, Focus' former R&D director, became vice president of assay development.
CHL Medical Partner Ronald Lennox has joined the PrimeraDx board.
