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| Quanterix CEO Kevin Hrusovsky |
Quanterix is riding high off its recent success, bringing in revenues that beat last year's numbers and scoring new funds to develop its innovative blood biomarker testing device. Now, with new cash in tow, the company is setting its sights on an IPO to spur growth.
The Lexington, MA-based company has already roped in $5 million in revenue during the first half of 2015, well and above what the company produced in 2014. And as Quanterix's numbers keep growing, executives are kicking off conversations with investors about a potential IPO, The Boston Business Journal (BBJ) reports.
"Over the course of the next few months, I'm going to be doing a financial raise that will include what we would consider a crossover investor--investors that typically only invest in public companies," CEO Kevin Hrusovsky told the BBJ. "We'll be doing that as part of our build out to become a public company. I would predict that we'll be ready to do an IPO as early as next year."
An IPO would come at a pivotal moment for Quanterix, as the company forges ahead with its blood biomarker testing product. Quanterix's Simoa uses sensitive testing to screen for different proteins in the blood that are linked to diseases. The device has 30 assays for biomarkers covering areas such as cardiac care, oncology and neurosciences.
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| Quanterix's Simoa device--Courtesy of Quanterix |
Quanterix sees the potential for its technology to replace current standards of care. For example, instead of running a mammogram on a patient, clinicians could use the company's device to look for elevated protein levels in the blood that are correlated with breast cancer. "We're going to change how medicine is practiced," Hrusovsky said, as quoted by the BBJ.
Quanterix is expecting big sales from Simoa in the years ahead. The product is projected to bring in $150 million in revenue within 5 years, Hrusovsky told the newspaper. To meet increased demand, the company is planning to beef up its workforce, bringing the roster at its Lexington office from 75 to a couple hundred employees, he added.
Meanwhile, Quanterix continues to reel in new funding to keep its ship afloat. In 2012, the company brought in $18.5 million in a round led by French diagnostics heavyweight bioMérieux. In 2014, Quanterix snagged a grant through General Electric ($GE) and the NFL's "Head Health Challenge" for its blood test for traumatic brain injury. The funds are part of a $50 million initiative to develop new technology for brain injury-related concussions.
- read the BBJ story
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