Skip to main content
Premium Trial:

Request an Annual Quote

Prenatal Testing Startup Juno Diagnostics Closes $25M Series A Financing Round

NEW YORK – Prenatal genetic testing firm Juno Diagnostics said on Wednesday that it has closed an expanded $25 million Series A financing round.

The round was led by the Perceptive Xontogeny Venture Fund. The company said the funding will be used to support clinical validation studies, product development, and commercialization. Juno said in a statement that it generated "a differentiated product offering" and a "collection of promising clinical data" to support the round.

San Diego-based Juno Diagnostics is developing a noninvasive prenatal test using cell-free DNA that "simplifies sample collection and improves access to high-quality genetic testing results without the high cost, long lead times, and phlebotomy requirements of traditional NIPT," the firm added.

"With a highly experienced and motivated team, JunoDx is positioned to become the cfDNA testing market leader driven by a sea change in reimbursement and democratizing access via technology innovation," said Chris Garabedian, CEO of Xontogeny and manager of the PXV Fund for Perceptive Advisors.

The company's founders previously worked on developing NIPT at Sequenom.

The Scan

Latent HIV Found in White Blood Cells of Individuals on Long-Term Treatments

Researchers in Nature Microbiology find HIV genetic material in monocyte white blood cells and in macrophages that differentiated from them in individuals on HIV-suppressive treatment.

Seagull Microbiome Altered by Microplastic Exposure

The overall diversity and the composition at gut microbiome sites appear to coincide with microplastic exposure and ingestion in two wild bird species, according to a new Nature Ecology and Evolution study.

Study Traces Bladder Cancer Risk Contributors in Organ Transplant Recipients

In eLife, genome and transcriptome sequencing reveal mutation signatures, recurrent somatic mutations, and risky virus sequences in bladder cancers occurring in transplant recipients.

Genes Linked to White-Tailed Jackrabbits' Winter Coat Color Change

Climate change, the researchers noted in Science, may lead to camouflage mismatch and increase predation of white-tailed jackrabbits.