NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Molecular diagnostics firm Xagenic today announced that it has closed a Series B round of financing that brought in $20 million (US$18.8 million) in funding.
The Toronto-based company said that the proceeds would be used to support continued development and studies of its molecular diagnostics platform, which is intended for use in decentralized settings such as doctors' offices and clinics. Its core technology is the Amplified Redox Assay, or AuRA, which uses nanostructured microelectrodes for rapid enzyme-free detection of nucleic acids from clinical specimens without the need for sample extraction.
The Series B round was led by new investor Domain Associates, which was joined by existing investors including CTI Life Sciences Fund and the Ontario Emerging Technologies Fund. In conjunction with the financing, Jesse Treu, a partner at Domain Associates, will join Xagenic's Board of Directors.
"For many years, in an effort to meet customer needs at the point of care, companies have been unsuccessfully focusing their efforts on pushing the limits in automating PCR," said Treu in a statement. "Xagenic has taken a novel technological approach to solving the challenge of rapid, simple molecular diagnostics. The easy-to-use, affordable desktop system and future menu of tests have the ability to transform the way critical patient diagnoses are made and acted upon."
The most recent funding round followed the closing of a C$10 million Series A round in early 2012.
Xagenic was spun out of the University of Toronto in 2010.