NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Clinical Genomics has closed a $15 million Series A financing round, and plans to use the proceeds to help commercialize its blood test for post-surgical monitoring of colorectal cancer occurrence.
OneVentures, a venture capital firm based in Sydney, Australia, led the financing. In connection with the funding, OneVentures Partner and Managing Director Paul Kelly will join Clinical Genomics' board.
Clinical Genomics is a private Sydney-based company that also has US offices and laboratories in Edison and Bridgewater, New Jersey. Its blood-based test uses a PCR method to detect the presence of two genes, BCAT1 and IKZF1, that are hypermethylated in CRC patients.
The company recently presented data demonstrating that its assay is about two and a half times more effective at picking up CRC recurrence than measuring antigen levels, the most commonly used method.
"This financing, our first institutional capital raise, will provide critical resources to support the commercialization of our patent-pending, two-gene, blood-based assay for colorectal cancer surveillance," Clinical Genomics President and CEO Lawrence LaPointe, president and CEO of Clinical Genomics, said in a statement. "Clinical data show that our test is approximately 2.5 times more sensitive than the current guidelines-recommended standard periodic blood test, and we are optimistic that our liquid biopsy technology has the potential to address an unmet need in colorectal cancer recurrence monitoring."
The company said that it plans to begin offering the new test in the US later this year.