NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Molecular diagnostics firm Bioarray Genetics on Thursday said that it has received $4 million in Series B equity financing.
The funding came from Quark Venture and GF Securities through their Global Health Science Fund and Connecticut Innovations, and will be used to move Bioarray Genetics' first product, BA100, a breast cancer diagnostic, to clinicians. The financing will also be used for R&D for other tests, including those targeting treatments for metastatic breast and colon cancers, the firm said.
By isolating RNA biomarkers from a tumor biopsy and then applying proprietary algorithms, BA100 provides actionable information about patient response to the standard of care chemotherapy treatment. It can identify triple-negative breast cancer patients with the worst survival rates and who would benefit from more aggressive treatment, Bioarray Genetics said, adding the test is currently intended for patients with stage 1, 2, and 3 nonmetastatic breast cancer.
Bioarray Genetics is headquartered at UConn's Technology Incubation Program in Farmington, Connecticut.
"BA100 has the potential to impact oncology care, in the very short term, by sparing patients exposure to ineffective chemotherapy and unnecessary toxicity," Quark Venture CEO and GHS Fund Director Karimah Es Sabar said in a statement. "Bioarray's clinically validated tests are unique; there is nothing else on the market that addresses this need."
"This new funding enables Bioarray to fulfill our mission to eliminate the trial-and-error approach in the treatment of cancer patients," Bioarray Genetics Founder and CEO Marcia Fournier added.