Skip to main content
Premium Trial:

Request an Annual Quote

CTC Firm On-Q-ity Closes Shop

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Circulating tumor cell test development firm On-Q-ity has closed its doors, according to a venture capital investor in the firm.

Rumors about the company's demise had circulated for several months. Former company officials and investors did not return calls from GenomeWeb Daily News seeking confirmation and comment recently. However, this week Bruce Booth, a partner at Atlas Ventures, one of the investors in On-Q-ity, wrote in Forbes that the board of the Waltham, Mass.-based company reached the decision to wind down the business in November. The final sale of its IP assets wraps up this month, he added.

On-Q-ity was formed in 2009, raising $26 million in a Series A financing round. According to Booth, though, both the science that formed the backbone for the company and the technology behind the company's platform proved to be costly to develop and validate, and as a result of problems with its platform, a marketing deal with Laboratory Corporation of America inked in early 2011 "fizzled."

During 2010 and 2011, On-Q-ity also saw extensive turnover among its management, and as 2012 began, it ran out of money. The company managed to raise $5 million in a Series B round in February 2012 and hired Mike Stocum as President and CEO at that time.

As 2012 approached its end, though, On-Q-ity again found itself low on funds, and the decision was made to shut the company down, Booth said.

The Scan

Positive Framing of Genetic Studies Can Spark Mistrust Among Underrepresented Groups

Researchers in Human Genetics and Genomics Advances report that how researchers describe genomic studies may alienate potential participants.

Small Study of Gene Editing to Treat Sickle Cell Disease

In a Novartis-sponsored study in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers found that a CRISPR-Cas9-based treatment targeting promoters of genes encoding fetal hemoglobin could reduce disease symptoms.

Gut Microbiome Changes Appear in Infants Before They Develop Eczema, Study Finds

Researchers report in mSystems that infants experienced an enrichment in Clostridium sensu stricto 1 and Finegoldia and a depletion of Bacteroides before developing eczema.

Acute Myeloid Leukemia Treatment Specificity Enhanced With Stem Cell Editing

A study in Nature suggests epitope editing in donor stem cells prior to bone marrow transplants can stave off toxicity when targeting acute myeloid leukemia with immunotherapy.