Liquid biopsy developer Inivata has secured a total of £39.8 million, or about $52.6 million, to help commercialize its DNA sequencing test through an extended series B round.
First closed in August 2018, the overall round saw funding from the company’s returning backers—including Johnson & Johnson Innovation, Cambridge Innovation Capital, IP Group, and Woodford Patient Capital Trust—plus its new investor, RT Ventures.
Based in Cambridge, U.K., and Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, Inivata plans to use the proceeds to support the U.S. rollout of its InVisionFirst molecular diagnostic, which recently received a Medicare coverage determination to examine genetic mutations in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.
The financing will also help the company develop its InVision liquid biopsy platform in new indications, the company said.
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“Inivata has made great progress since our first investment when it was spun out of Cancer Research UK’s laboratories in Cambridge,” Cambridge Innovation Capital Investment Director Michael Anstey, Ph.D., said in a statement. “We are delighted to have helped Inivata develop from a startup through to commercializing its products.”
Inivata previously raised £31.5 million, or about $45 million, in its 2016 series A round. Its circulating tumor DNA test looks for cancer-related mutations in the blood, to assist physicians in assigning a specific therapy and monitor treatment progress.