NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Aviir today announced the completion of a $10 million tranche, completing a financing round started in December 2011 that raised a total of $30 million.
Proceeds will be used to build out the Irvine, Calif.-based firm's commercial infrastructure, speed up its nationwide commercial launch, and expand third-party reimbursement efforts, it said. It also plans to use proceeds to begin distribution of the company's cardiac risk test outside of the US, and to create additional laboratory testing services.
Merck Global Health Innovation Fund led the round. Partners & Partners, Bay City Capital, Aberdare Ventures, and New Leaf Venture also participated.
Aviir's flagship technology is its MIRISK VP test for determining an individual's risk of future cardiac events. The test measures the levels of seven proteins in blood that are associated with the development of vulnerable plaque, then uses an algorithm to analyze the results and other risk factors to determine an individual's risk of having a heart attack within the next five years.
In a statement, Aviir CEO Douglas Harrington said that the company's pilot and regional launch programs for the test "have generated both enthusiastic response among the physician community and commercial adoption." The firm offered MIRISK VP in Orange County, Calif., in its pilot program and began the first phase of a broader commercial launch earlier this year, as ProteoMonitor previously reported.
"The additional funding will now allow us to conduct a more broad commercial launch domestically and take the next steps toward a comprehensive international distribution plan to be rolled out later this year," Harrington said.
In February, it and Partners & Partners inked a deal to distribute Aviir's tests, including MIRISK VP, in 19 countries in the Middle East and North Africa.
The company also told Clinical Sequencing News in April that it planned to launch next-generation sequencing-based tests for more than a dozen inherited cardiovascular disorders. The tests would run on the Ion Torrent PGM and the Illumina MiSeq platforms. In May, Aviir introduced two comprehensive genetic panels to test for undiagnosed arrhythmia or cardiomyopathy.