NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Guardant Health today announced it has raised close to $100 million in the first closing of a Series D funding round.
Combined with earlier funding rounds, the company said the new money brings its total raised to almost $200 million.
Guardant said the new financing was led by healthcare investment firm OrbiMed. Several other existing Guardant Health investors also participated, including Khosla Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Pejman Mar, Formation 8, and Heritage Group.
According to the company, the new funds will help it continue to develop its technology, and maintain a commercial lead in the cell-free DNA liquid biopsy space. The company's test, Guardant360 was the first comprehensive, non-invasive genomic cancer sequencing test to market.
The 70-gene test, based on a technology Guardant calls digital sequencing, is intended to identify genomic alterations in patients with advanced cancers in cases where repeat or initial biopsies are not desirable. Using the test, physicians may simply monitor disease, or use the results to guide the selection of genomically targeted therapies.
According to the company, about 2,000 physicians worldwide have used Guardant360.
Guardant said it will also use the new funds to expand its platform to address other aspects of cancer care, but it did not specify what those new clinical applications will be.
The firm has previously discussed the possibility that its technology could also be used for early detection of cancer, and recently made its first public announcement of a companion diagnostics deal — to develop an assay for Mirati Therpeutics' investigational lung cancer drug glesatinib.