NEW YORK, Sept. 23 - Startup biochip company Aviva Biosciences today said it has secured $11.8 million in the first closing of a series B round of private-equity financing.
China Development Industrial Bank, a long-time investor with Aviva, led the round, which brings to $16.8 million invested in Aviva sine 1998. Axon Instruments and Pac-Link Management also took part in the round.
Aviva, based in San Diego, said it will us the money to help it launch a biochip it is developing with Axon that will work with that firm's PatchXpress line of ion channel drug-screening systems.
Two weeks ago, the company hired former Lynx chief Norrie Russell to be its president and CEO. Russell, who quit Lynx in June, was replaced by Kevin Corcoran, Lynx's vice president of operations and a veteran of Applied Biosystems.