NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Cancer molecular diagnostics firm MolecularMD announced today it has raised $6 million in a Series B equity financing round.
The financing will go toward accelerating the commercial launch of new platforms and related assay content in areas including next-generation sequencing and rare mutation detection, the Portland, Ore.-based firm said. Funds will also be directed at expanding its sales and marketing operations.
Existing investor Ballast Point Ventures led the round and was joined by new investor Nextech Invest.
Ballast previously made a $3 million investment in MolecularMD in 2009.
MolecularMD said it plans to submit a companion diagnostic test for regulatory approval this year for ponatinib, a pan-BCR-ABL inhibitor of BCR-ABL1, developed by Ariad Pharmaceuticals, though it did not specify in which country it plans to file its submission.
"As regulators move to requiring that companion diagnostic tests accompany new oncology drug submissions, we are investing in our technological and operational infrastructures to strengthen our capabilities as a premier companion diagnostic development partner," MolecularMD President and Chief Operational Officer Dan Snyder said in a statement.
The company also said today that it has established a new facility in Cambridge, Mass., focused on developing high content next-gen sequencing assays. Jin Li will lead the laboratory. Li was formerly at Genzyme Genetics and was an instructor at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, where he invented several new techniques for high sensitivity nucleic acid detection, MolecularMD said.
The firm also named Chad Galderisi as medical director. Galderisi has been the laboratory director for MolecularMD clinical services and laboratory since 2006.