NEW YORK – Swedish life science firm Navinci Diagnostics said Tuesday it has closed a SEK 90 million ($8.5 million) Series A financing round.
The company will use the funds to commercialize its portfolio of assays for immuno-oncology research and drug development and to establish collaborations with pharma firms.
The round was led by Scandinavian life science investment company Segulah Medical Acceleration (SMA) with participation from existing investors including Landegren Gene Technology, Nexttobe, and Beijer Ventures.
Uppsala, Sweden-based Navinci, formerly Olink Bioscience, was formed in 2016 with the split of the original Olink into two separate companies, Olink Proteomics and Olink Bioscience. It sells in situ proximity ligation assays that allow researchers to detect proteins and protein-protein interactions in tissue and cell samples.
The company's lead product is an assay for detecting interactions between programmed cell death protein 1 (PD1) and PD1-ligand (PD-L1) in tissue samples, which it believes could help assess whether a patient is likely to benefit from PD1/PD-L1 immunotherapy.
"Navinci, through its Naveni Proximity Ligation technology, is uniquely positioned to be a core part of the spatial biology revolution as it accelerates," Roger Gunnarsson, managing partner at SMA, said in a statement.
"With the inclusion of SMA among Navinci’s shareholders, we gain financial resources to realize our ambitious vision of becoming a leader in spatial proteomics. Equally important, we join forces with one of the most vital investors in Scandinavia and gain access to their excellent life science network in Europe and the USA," Navinci CEO Robert Gunnarsson said in a statement. He added that the company plans to begin expanding its sales and marketing and R&D teams.