NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Noninvasive prenatal test developer Natera has completed a $54.6 million financing round to support its expansion and the rollout of its sequencing-based fetal aneuploidy test called Panorama.
Two new investors, OrbiMed Advisors and Harmony Partners, and other new undisclosed investors joined the company's existing investors, Claremont Creek Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Founders Fund, and Sequoia Capital.
"This new financing will support the expansion of our lab and our team to meet the rapidly increasing demand," CEO Matthew Rabinowitz said in a statement. "We have successfully launched Panorama, and with our partners are seeing strong demand from expecting mothers who want reliable, early information about their fetus."
Additionally, in a study published today in Prenatal Diagnosis, the company said its test demonstrated 100 percent sensitivity and specificity in calling fetal aneuploidies from 242 samples.
Overall, from all of its studies, the Panorama test has demonstrated greater than 99 percent sensitivity for trisomy 21, 18, and 13; 92 percent sensitivity for monosomy X; and a specificity of 100 percent with no false positives for all indications.
Rabinowitz said in the statement that the company will continue to "investigate new applications" for its technology.
Natera has so far inked deals with Quest, Bio-Reference Laboratories, and Arup Laboratories to offer its test.
The firm competes with several other companies in the noninvasive prenatal testing space including Sequenom, Illumina's Verinata Health, and Ariosa Diagnostics.