NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) — PathoQuest, an infectious disease diagnostics startup based in Paris, has raised €3.8 million ($5 million) in a Series B private equity funding round, the company said today.
The firm, a 2010 spin-out from the Pasteur Institute and the Ecole Nationale Veterinaire d'Alfort, will use the funding for a clinical trial of a diagnostic assay it has been developing that combines next-generation sequencing and a cloud-based analysis software service.
PathoQuest's assay, which uses proprietary sample preparation and algorithms, will be able to identify pathogens in two days. The company plans to launch the assay commercially in 2015, utilizing a "software as a service" business model.
The clinical trial, which will compare the assay to current diagnostic approaches and will be conducted both in the US and the European Union, will focus on the diagnosis of severe multi-etiological infections in patients that are immuno-compromised because of an inherited disorder or because of treatment with immuno-suppressive drugs or cancer chemotherapy.
Existing investor Kurma Life Science Partners was joined by new investors Idinvest and Aurinvest in the latest funding round. The firm previously raised €2 million in 2011.