By Diagnostics World Staff
October 25, 2023 | bioMérieux further invests in Oxford Nanopore to expand in vitro diagnostics production; Harbinger Health trials blood-based cancer screening platform; HHS funds behavioral health services and HIV prevention for underserved populations; and more.
$140M: Series B for Cancer-Screening Platform Study
Harbinger Health has raised $140 million in Series B funding. The financing round is comprised of the Company's founder, Flagship Pioneering, alongside new global institutional investors including Pictet, Partners Investment, and Catalyst, M&G Investments' purpose-led private assets strategy, among other investors. The new funds will be used to support the completion of Harbinger's Cancer ORigin Epigenetics-Harbinger Health (CORE-HH) 10,000-participant clinical study of its novel blood-based cancer screening platform; develop its two-tier testing model; expand its data science and commercial teams and capabilities; and initiate additional clinical studies in high-risk populations. Harbinger has raised approximately $190 million in total funding since its formation in 2020.
$100M: Series B for Generative AI Discovery Platform
Iambic Therapeutics (formerly known as Entos) closed an oversubscribed $100 million Series B financing co-led by Ascenta Capital and Abingworth, and also including new investors NVIDIA, Illumina Ventures, Gradiant Corporation, and independent board member Bill Rastetter. Existing investors also participated, including Nexus Ventures, Catalio Capital Management, Coatue, FreeFlow, OrbiMed, and Sequoia Capital. With the funds raised, Iambic intends to advance multiple candidates into clinical development, expand its pipeline with additional candidates with best-in-class and first-in-class potential, and continue to innovate and build next-generation AI and automation technologies for drug discovery. It plans to leverage NVIDIA technology, such as the NVIDIA DGX Cloud AI supercomputing platform and the NVIDIA BioNeMo cloud service to accelerate discovery.
$85.4M: Investment for IVD Products
bioMérieux is making an immediate £70 million (approximately $85.4 million) investment in Oxford Nanopore, and expects to make further market purchases of Oxford Nanopore’s shares from time to time, up to a further 3.5% of Oxford Nanopore’s shares, subject to availability and price. The investment will strengthen the relationship between the two companies, further aligning with Oxford Nanopore’s increasing focus on clinical markets through a partnership announced in April this year. This investment will support development for products in Oxford Nanopore’s portfolio to serve IVD markets in conjunction with bioMérieux’s commitment to advancing global public health.
$56M: Series A for Radiopharmaceuticals
Nucleus RadioPharma announced an oversubscribed $56 million Series A funding round led by Eclipse and GE HealthCare with participation from Echo Global, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Granger Management, Mayo Clinic, Mercy Health, and University of Missouri. With this round of funding, Nucleus RadioPharma will establish multiple new manufacturing facilities around the country, including Rochester, Minnesota, near Mayo Clinic, and build novel technology for the development, manufacturing, and distribution of radiopharmaceuticals. In addition to its manufacturing capabilities, Nucleus RadioPharma will shape the development of a new supply chain network designed to move, track, and deliver materials to patients faster and more efficiently.
$40M: Funding for Lab Automation
Automata Technologies has raised $40 million to accelerate its rapid growth and industry presence across the US, UK, and EMEA. Automata’s LINQ automation platform is designed to make automation easily adoptable by science labs across research institutions, hospital groups and pharmaceutical and biotech companies and CROs. The proceeds will be used to fund Automata’s geographic and team expansion plans, focusing the business on the fast-growing opportunities in the global life sciences sector and developing its brand recognition and presence in the industry. This latest funding round builds on the success of the $50 million Series B round raised in January 2022, which enabled the team to deliver on its initial commercialization and expansion plans, particularly its deployment footprint in Europe and the UK and rapid growth in the US. Since the last funding round in January 2022, Automata has seen 150% revenue growth.
$35M: HHS Award for Behavioral Health, HIV Care to Underserved Populations
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has awarded nearly $35 million in grant funding this month to bring essential behavioral health services and HIV prevention and care to historically underserved populations. The awards include: $21.9 million for the Minority AIDS Initiative: Substances Use Disorder Treatment for Racial/Ethnic Minority Populations at High Risk for HIV/AIDS; $10.5 million for the Minority AIDS Initiative: Substance Use and Human Immunodeficiency Virus Prevention Navigator Program for Racial/Ethnic Minorities; and $1.9 million for the Minority HIV/AIDS Fund: Integrated Behavioral Health and HIV Care for Unsheltered Populations Pilot Project.
$10M: Series A For In Vivo Reprogramming Therapies
Mogrify Limited closed an additional $10 million of its Series A financing, bringing the total amount raised to $46 million in this round. The funding will support further advancement of Mogrify’s pipeline of in vivo reprogramming therapies through pre-clinical translation, continued platform optimization, and facilitation of new and existing biopharma collaborations. This additional close was co-led by strategic corporate investor, Astellas Venture Management and Parkwalk Advisors, the leading funder of UK university spin-outs, with support from Ahren Innovation Capital, Trend Investment Group, and Dr Jonathan Milner, co-founder of Abcam Plc. Proceeds from the financing will be used to advance Mogrify’s pipeline of in vivo reprogramming therapies, delivering the milestones necessary to facilitate a Series B fundraise in 2024/25, and subsequent progression of a lead program into first-in-human studies. The Company’s pipeline aims to address degenerative diseases of the eye, ear, and pancreas via direct in vivo restoration of clinically valuable cell types, and in doing so, transform the lives of patients suffering from vision loss, hearing loss, and diabetes.
$8M: Series A Extension for Clinical Trial AI Platform
Lokavant announced an $8 million strategic investment from global business titan Mitsui & Co. Ltd. to expand its AI-optimized platform across the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. One of Lokavant’s earliest customers, CMIC Group, is the largest contract research organization (CRO) in Japan and Lokavant’s foray into Japan’s established clinical research market. Now, with Mitsui’s support, Lokavant is poised to open a new APAC headquarters in Tokyo. Mitsui’s investment in Lokavant is the culmination of a yearlong effort between the two companies, which included Mitsui’s extensive due diligence of the global clinical trials landscape. With this Series A extension, Mitsui joins previous investors that include Edison Partners and Roivant Sciences. Lokavant has raised a total of $29 million in funding to expand its intelligence technology for additional applications, from trial participant diversity modeling to site feasibility planning.
$6M: Series A Extension for Generative AI
Gero has closed $6 million in a Series A extension round. This funding round positions Gero to continue internal drug development programs, grow its scientific team to boost platform technology development, and expand its US presence. The round was led by Melnichek Investments, a Cyprus-based VC firm that seeks to improve the quality of human lives by funding and supporting promising, potentially high-impact, machine-learning startups, with the participation of VitaDAO and Leonid Lozner. By applying cutting-edge generative AI tools to analyze real-world longitudinal human health data, Gero is dedicated to finding novel cures for age-related diseases. Its goal is to unravel the mysteries behind human aging and halt the aging process.
$4M: Financing for Microbiome Platform
Eagle Genomics has raised additional financing of £3 million (approximately $4 million) with continued participation from existing investors Environmental Technologies Fund, abrdn plc, and a consortium of investors headed by Granpool Innovative Investments, to further deploy its pioneering software platform that enables corporate customers to explore and monetize microbiome-related research. The current funding brings Eagle’s total capital raising to over £20 million (approximately $25 million) over the last 12 months. Together with this fundraising, the Company is excited to announce the appointment of Dr Victoria Kimonides as Eagle Genomics’ new CEO and Board Member, John Schoellerman as its Chair, and Andrew Finbow as Chief Evangelist, a new role.
$1.8M: Grant for Esophageal Cancer Risk Test
Previse was awarded a $1.8 million Direct to Phase II SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) grant by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Securing the SBIR grant for this project involved Previse collaborating with investigators at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine to submit intensive research and commercialization plans to the NIH, outlining the path Previse is taking to accelerate the adoption of Previse’s Esopredict, a clinically available test that analyzes methylation of biomarkers to assess the risk of esophageal cancer developing in patients with Barrett's esophagus and currently provides GI physicians with results within one week.