US-based life sciences technology company NanoString Technologies closed its series D funding round yesterday, having raised $20m from a pool of investors including GE Capital, Equity, which acts as the private equity investment unit for energy conglomerate General Electric.
The investment was the first made as part of the GE Healthymagination fund’s commitment, made in September, to spend up to $1bn on cancer research. The round took NanoString’s overall financing to $73.5m since its inception.
Also participating in the round were BioMed Ventures, which operates as the corporate venturing division of realty investment trust BioMed Realty Trust, and Henri Termeer, the ex-chairman of biotechnology company Genzyme, as well as all of NanoString’s previous investors, which include venture capital firms Clarus Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson and OVP Venture Partners.
NanoString’s lead product, the nCounter Analysis System, is a digital detection and counting system for molecules which has been in use since 2008. The second generation version of the system was introduced last month, and NanoString are looking to obtain regulatory clearance to expand the hardware to cover breast cancer and other molecular diagnostic testing.
Pascale Witz, chief executive officer of GE Healthcare’s Medical Diagnostics business, said: "GE Healthcare’s growing personalised medicine portfolio encompasses a wide range of life science tools and diagnostic solutions. We believe NanoString’s nCounter Analysis System gives researchers the potential to take basic biomarker discoveries into the clinic. We look forward to exploring ways to collaborate with the NanoString team."