NEW YORK – Chinese molecular testing company Health Gene Technologies said this week that it has completed a Series C financing of “hundreds of millions” of Chinese yuan. The round was led by Shenzhen Capital Group, with additional investments from BioTrack Capital, Ningbo Hefeng Venture Capital, Ningbo Yingong Venture Capital Partnership, and Ningbo Binjiang Xin Cheng Development Investment. Health Gene said the funding will primarily be used for new technology research and product development. Founded in August 2011, Health Gene Technologies, based in Ningbo, China, has developed and commercialized nucleic acid testing products for forensic science and precision medicine.
IndyGeneUS AI and the Aurum Institute said this week that they would sequence the genomes of 500,000 Africans over the next three years, with a focus on diseases including tuberculosis, HIV, and malaria. The program, called the 500K Pan-African Genome Project, is the first cohort in a plan to sequence 2 million genomes for a biorepository that will eventually include patients with diabetes, sickle cell disease, and cancer, according to Washington, D.C.-based IndyGeneUS. Sequencing will be performed at the company's new laboratory in Cape Town, South Africa.
The startup also said that it would launch a digital health portal to support the project with blockchain-based technology that IndyGeneUS acquired when it bought the EncrypGen IT platform. The firm, which has raised $2 million in pre-seed funding and has an additional commitment of $30 million from another startup named HelaPlex, said it will self-fund the 500K Pan-African Genome Project.
Natera said this week that it has filed a pre-submission to the US Food and Drug Administration for its Panorama noninvasive prenatal test, following publication of the results of the SMART trial. The company filed its pre-submission in June for fetal chromosomal aneuploidies and 22q11.2 deletion syndrome.
Proteintech Group said this week that it has launched a new subsidiary, Proteintech Genomics. Based in San Diego, the firm is building multiplexed proteomic assays to enhance the capabilities of single-cell and spatial analysis platforms. The new firm seeks partnerships with other companies to develop assays that can be used with existing DNA or RNA profiling products.
Bruker said in its recent 10-Q filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that its strategic investment in reagents firm Ambergen totaled $5 million.
Separately, the firm said this week that its board of directors has approved a quarterly cash dividend of $.05 per share, which will be paid on Sept. 16 to stockholders of record as of Sept. 1.
Todos Medical said this week that its CLIA-certified, CAP-accredited laboratory Provista Diagnostics has entered into contracts to provide PCR-based monkeypox testing services. One deal is with an unnamed New Jersey-based medical group that specializes in dermatologic screening. The second agreement is an expansion of an existing deal with an unnamed New Jersey-based CLIA-certified lab that already included COVID-19 testing. Other terms of the deals were not disclosed. Provista's saliva-based monkeypox test is being developed as a laboratory-developed test.
Applied DNA Sciences said this week that it has closed its previously announced public offering of 3 million shares of its common stock, together with Series A warrants to purchase up to another 3 million shares and Series B warrants to buy up to 3 million more shares at a combined offering price of $4 per share and associated warrants. Gross proceeds totaled $12 million before agent's fees and other offering expenses. Separately, the company said that it received about $3.6 million in net proceeds following an exercise of Series B warrants from the offering by an institutional investor. H.C. Wainwright acted as the exclusive placement agent for the offering.
Sophia Genetics this week filed a $200 million preliminary shelf registration with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. This would be Sophia's first stock offering since it raised $234 million in an initial public offering in July 2021. The Swiss-American company also reported its Q2 financial results this week.
Caris Life Sciences said this week that OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center has joined its Precision Oncology Alliance, a network of cancer centers that collaborate to advance precision oncology and biomarker-driven research. Located on the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center campus, Stephenson is the state's only National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center. In the Caris POA, it joins about 70 other institutions. Members enjoy early access to Caris' database and artificial intelligence platform, as well as a growing network of clinical trials.
In Brief This Week is a selection of news items that may be of interest to our readers but had not previously appeared on GenomeWeb.