Diffinity Genomics said this week that it has closed a Series B financing.
The privately held Rochester, NY-based company said it will use the funds primarily to commercialize new products, increase manufacturing capacity, and expand its sales team. However, a company spokesperson declined to disclose the financing amount.
The company's initial products, the Diffinity RapidTip and Diffinity RapidTip2, enable one-minute DNA purification from PCR solutions in a single step with a standard pipettor. Diffinity said that it is looking to add new RapidTip purification products to its portfolio for use in additional DNA purification applications.
New investors that contributed to the Series B round include Mass Med Angels and the Allyn Family Capital Fund.
Following the financing round, Diffinity appointed to its board of directors Donald Pogorzelski, former president of Genzyme Diagnostics and current vice chair of the New England Baptist Hospital's board of trustees; and Eric Allyn, an owner of medical device manufacturer Welch Allyn.
In September, Diffinity was awarded a pair of grants worth more than $200,000 from the National Human Genome Research Institute to further develop its nucleic acid purification technologies (PCR Insider, 9/15/2011).
Specifically, Lewis Rothberg, a professor of chemistry at the University of Rochester and chief technology officer at Diffinity, is principal investigator on the grants. Rothberg's lab developed the proprietary materials that Diffinity uses in its RapidTip. The company has a license to these technologies from the University of Rochester.