NEW YORK – French nucleic acid manufacturer DNA Script announced on Wednesday that it has extended its Series B financing round by $50 million, for a total of $89 million raised in the round.
Casdin Capital, Danaher Life Sciences, and Agilent Technologies were the latest investors to join the Series B round. DNA Script had previously announced an oversubscribed $38.5 million Series B financing round in May 2019, led by healthcare investment firm LSP and also including French government investment bank Bpifrance, Illumina Ventures, M Ventures, Sofinnova Partners, Kurma Partners, and Idinvest Partners.
The firm said it plans to use the funding to accelerate development of its enzymatic DNA synthesis technologies and specifically to support the commercial launch of its Syntax benchtop DNA printer.
"DNA Script has established itself as an early leader in the development of enzymatic synthesis," Eli Casdin, Chief Investment Officer and Managing Partner of Casdin Capital, said in a statement. "Enzymatic DNA synthesis can enable the production of much longer strands of DNA at faster speeds without the need for environmentally harmful solvents, such that the commercial introduction of this technology will be a much-needed catalyst for applications across biology — from accelerating diagnostic and drug development to advancing precision medicine to enabling the development of DNA data storage systems and the bioengineering of new materials."
The firm is part of a consortium pursuing data storage in DNA that won a $23 million grant from the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity in January.
"The current global pandemic has made clear the value of in-lab tools like the Syntax system to enable quick research iteration without relying on centralized distributors that can be hampered by capacity and shipping bottlenecks," DNA Script said in a statement.
Danaher also owns nucleic acid synthesis firm Integrated DNA Technologies, which it bought in 2018.