NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Next-generation sequencing-based carrier screening firm Good Start Genetics today announced it has closed a non-dilutive loan facility for up to $28 million from Capital Royalty.
Good Start said it will use proceeds for long-term corporate growth initiatives for its NGS-based carrier screening platform. Since launching its screening services called GoodStart Select in April 2012, the company's CLIA- and CAP-certified laboratory has processed tens of thousands of test orders, it said. The service provides testing for all 23 diseases recommended by major medical societies and detects common disease-causing mutations and rare pathogenic mutations that older, traditional genotyping-based technologies cannot detect, the Cambridge, Mass.-based firm said.
GoodStart Select was launched targeting the 460 in vitro fertilization centers in the US, but as Clinical Sequencing News reported in February, the company has its eyes on bringing it to Ob/Gyn practices and other areas of reproductive health.
"These funds further position us to continue growing our NGS-based GoodStart Select carrier screening presence within the IVF community, while evaluating potential opportunities to expand our reach into other areas, including global carrier screening markets," Good Start President and CEO Don Hardison said in a statement. "We are now in a strong financial position with sufficient capital to take us far beyond our projected 2013 profitability and cash flow operating goals."
The company raised $14 million a year ago in a Series B round and $18 million in 2010 in a Series A round.