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NGS Clinical Dx Firm Blueprint Genetics Raises Funds

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Next-generation sequencing-based clinical diagnostics firm Blueprint Genetics today announced it has raised $3.9 million to fund its international expansion.

It is unclear if the $3.9 million figure is the amount the Finnish firm raised in the most recent financing round or if it is the total amount raised since its founding. On deadlinie, the company did not respond to a request for clarification.

Venture capital firm Inventure and Finnish foundation Avohoidon Tutkimussäätiö (Outpatient Research Foundation) were new investors in the financing round. Previous investors in the company included Tekes, the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation, as well as angel investors.

Based in Helsinki and founded in 2011, Blueprint develops clinical-grade NGS-based tests using a targeted sequencing technology developed at Stanford University. Its first products were launched in 2013 aimed at inherited cardiovascular diseases.

It currently provides testing for more than 60 hospitals in 10 countries and is launching an office in the US, it said, though it provided no further details. In addition to establishing a base in the US, Blueprint CEO Tommi Lehtonen said in a statement that the firm plans to expand its test menu to include additional disease categories.

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