NEW YORK – Linus Biotechnology announced Thursday that it raised over $16 million in Series A funding, which it will use to advance its StrandDx platform for correlating genomics and environmental exposures to biological responses.
GreatPoint Ventures and Bow Capital led the funding round. Other investors included Divergent Investments, the David Bellet Family Office, and Gillian Sandler, as well as Nicole Shanahan, the president of Bia-Echo Foundation; and Sanford Robertson, the cofounder of Francisco Partners and former board member of Salesforce; and others.
The StrandDx platform analyzes hair samples for markers of environmental exposures related to complex disorders such as autism spectrum disorders (ASD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, psychosis, schizophrenia, and inflammatory bowel disease. LinusBio has stated that it will initially focus on neurological disorders.
The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai spinout last year announced plans to launch its ASD assay, StrandDx-ASD, which aims to speed up ASD diagnoses by analyzing hair samples from people as young as newborns.
StrandDx-ASD has received breakthrough device designation from the US Food and Drug Administration and CE marking in the European Union.
The current funding will contribute to growing LinusBio's workforce in addition to further developing the StrandDx platform.