NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Metabolomics company Molecular Biometrics said yesterday that it has completed a $12.5 million Series B financing.
New investor Atlas Ventures led the financing round with participation from existing investors Safeguard Scientifics and Oxford Bioscience Partners.
Based in Norwood, Mass., Molecular Biometrics will use the cash to accelerate the global launch of its lead product, ViaMetrics-E, a rapid, non-invasive procedure designed to enhance in vitro fertilization outcomes by using cellular metabolomic signatures.
The company said it would also use the financing to begin manufacturing and product enhancements and to complete an ongoing clinical study to support US regulatory approval for its technology.
Molecular Biometrics' licensed its core technology in 2006 from Montreal's McGill University. The licensed patents relate to metabolomics and biospectroscopy of biomarkers for use in molecular diagnostics, drug discovery, and development of personalized medicine.
The company uses a combination of near-infrared biospectroscopy and bioinformatics techniques for its metabolomic applications. The platform rapidly measures vibrational energy "signatures" produced by small molecule functional groups, creating a unique profile of molecules that describe cellular function and viability.
Molecular Biometrics said that its ViaMetrics-E platform can help identify viable embryos with the greatest reproductive potential, thus improving pregnancy rates in IVF, and ultimately reducing the number of embryos transferred and the complications and healthcare costs associated with multiple births.
"We are expanding out commercial operations to support the international launch of ViaMetrics-E while completing the necessary regulatory requirements to market the product in the US," Molecular Biometrics' President and CEO James Posillico said in a statement.
James Datin, executive vice president and managing director of investor Safeguard Scientific's Life Sciences group, said in a statement that ViaMetric-E "meets a clear unmet medical need and is well-positioned to tap into the $4 billion global IVF market."