NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Gene Security Network today announced it has completed a $20 million financing round and changed its name to Natera.
The funds will go toward development and commercialization of the company's non-invasive prenatal diagnostic test for Down syndrome and other genetic ailments. A clinical trial funded by the National Institutes of Health for the prenatal test also will be expanded with a launch of the test anticipated sometime this year.
Its test uses bioinformatics technology to deliver results from quantities of DNA as small as that from a single cell, it said.
Lightspeed Venture Partners led the round and were joined by existing investors Claremont Creek Ventures and Sequoia Capital.
Natera, based in Redwood City, Calif., raised $4 million in a Series A round in 2007 and $6 million and $12 million in subsequent rounds.