NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Autoimmune molecular diagnostics firm Ignyta said this week that it has raised $5.5 million in an expanded Series B equity financing round.
Additionally, the firm received a $500,000 capital term loan in June 2012 from Silicon Valley Bank bringing the total in Series B-related proceeds to $6 million.
The financing will go toward moving the San Diego-based firm's Enlyta molecular diagnostic assays toward commercialization. This year, Ignyta, formerly called NexDx, plans to begin clinical studies to confirm its assay for rheumatoid arthritis at "its earliest, most treatable stages." The company also will begin preparing for CLIA certification of its laboratory in support of commercialization of the assay, anticipated in late 2014 or early 2015.
The first close of the Series B round began with a $2.1 million investment led by City Hill Ventures as well as the loan from Silicon Valley Bank. The expanded round includes $3.4 million in equity financing from Colt Ventures, City Hill Ventures, and other institutional and individual investors, including unidentified former CEOs and CFOs of publicly listed biotech firms, Ignyta said.
According to its amended Form D/A filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the company is targeting $7 million in the round.
Ignyta was founded in August 2011. In April it licensed epigenetic biomarkers from the University of California, San Diego targeting RA.