NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Canadian molecular diagnostics company Proteocyte Diagnostics today said that it closed a funding round that raised C$605,000 (US$554,000).
Investors included the Ontario Centres of Excellence, which provided C$250,000 in the financing, as well as a private syndicate of investors. The proceeds will be used to drive commercialization of Proteocyte's Straticyte diagnostic test for oral cancers, the Toronto-based company said. Proteocyte, which was founded in 2011, said on its website that it anticipates launching the test in 18 to 24 months.
Straticyte is a protein biomarker-based test that assesses the risk of oral lesions becoming cancerous. The biomarkers were initially discovered through proteomic research conducted at Mount Sinai Hospital and York University. Straticyte uses antibodies to first detect the biomarkers in patient samples and then software to assess them. The test compares the data from a patient with a reference database and generates a score that indicates the progression risk of a lesion.