NEW YORK(GenomeWeb) – Diagnostics firm Abcodia said today that it has raised £5.25 million ($8 million) in funding to support launch of its ROCA ovarian cancer test.
The funding was co-led by Cambridge Innovation Capital and Scottish Equity Partners, which joined existing investors Albion Ventures and UCL Business. CIC Investment Director Robert Tansley and SEP Partner Jan Rutherford have been appointed to Abcodia's Board.
In a statement, Abcodia CEO Julie Barnes said the funding would allow the company to launch the ROCA test in the UK this summer and in theUSin late 2015. The ROCA test combines serial testing of the ovarian cancer protein marker serum cancer antigen 125 (CA-125) with a proprietary algorithm to identify women at high risk of the disease who should be further investigated by ultrasound.
In a study published this month in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, theROCA test detected twice as many ovarian cancers as conventional CA-125 testing.