NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Companion diagnostics developer Biodesix today said that it has raised $7.1 million in a Series C round of financing, which will fund further development of its VeriStrat test.
The new round was led by existing investors, who provided $5.1 million in the round. The money will go toward ongoing commercialization of VeriStrat, a serum proteomic-based test to help guide treatment of patients with non-small cell lung cancer.
"This new investment will allow us to broaden and accelerate commercialization activities for VertiStrat, including expanding our studies of VeriStrat's utility with new drug combinations that can significantly improve outcomes for lung cancer patients," Biodesix CEO David Brunel said in a statement.
The Broomfield, Colo.-based company also said that it recently received $1.4 million in grants from the IRS' Qualified Therapeutic Discovery Program, which provides funds to small businesses with promising technologies for developing new therapies directed at unmet medical issues.
The grants will be used to advance development of six molecular diagnostic programs in oncology and autoimmune diseases, Biodesix said. Each of the programs leverages the firm's ProTS platform, which uses MALDI-MS as a diagnostic tool.
The QTDP funds and the $7.1 Series C round will also go toward clinical confirmation of VeriStrat with additional targeted oncology therapies and other tumor types such as colorectal, breast, and head and neck cancers, the company said.