NEW YORK — Circular Genomics said on Wednesday that it has raised $8.3 million in a Series A financing round.
The investment was led by Mountain Group Partners and included existing investors Cottonwood Technology Fund and Tramway Venture Partners, among others. UNM Rainforest Innovations also participated in the round as a new investor.
Circular Genomics was spun out of the University of New Mexico to develop diagnostics for psychiatric and neurological disorders based on the analysis of circular RNAs. The Albuquerque-based firm raised $4.5 million in seed funding in late 2021.
With the Series A money, Circular Genomics said it will build and scale commercial operations as it prepares to launch its first product, a blood-based test that predicts patient responses to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, later this year.
"The launch of this first assay paves the way for a set of tests covering the complete patient care continuum in major depression, and using the same circular RNA platform, in other neurological diseases," Circular Genomics CEO Paul Sargeant said in a statement.
In September, Circular Genomics began working with Washington University School of Medicine researchers to investigate the use of circular RNAs as biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease.