Seventh Sense Biosystems has been quiet these last several months. But now the maker of painless blood collection and diagnostic tech is making some noise, having scored a healthy new round of venture financing.
Specifically, it has secured a $16 million Series B financing round, money that will help fund final development of its touch-activated blood collection system, which works through the skin and can be integrated into diagnostics.
The Cambridge, MA, company also known as 7SBio attracted an impressive roster of new investors, including Novartis ($NVS), LabCorp ($LH) and the venture capital unit of Siemens Financial Services. Previous investors Flagship Ventures and Polaris Partners also participated in the new round.
CEO Howard Weisman told FierceDiagnostics via email that 7SBio hopes to use its Touch Activated Phlebotomy platform in the clinical trials market at first, with plans to hit the larger clinical diagnostics market over time. The device uses microneedles to collect blood through the skin and doesn't need to rely on a vein like traditional blood drawing does.
"Our first commercial target is the clinical trials market where we believe that because of improved convenience and patient comfort, Seventh Sense's devices can both increase overall study subject compliance within a trial and also create opportunities to increase the amount of data generated from each subject," Weisman said. "We'll be working with our new strategic partners to complete the development of our TAP device initially for use in that market, and we anticipate that this will lead to significant demand for our devices in the broader clinical diagnostic markets."
Seventh Sense Biosystems initially launched in 2008 and won a CE marking for its TAP system in October 2013.
-- Mark Hollmer (email | Twitter)
Editor, FierceDiagnostics