Baebies, a US-based newborn and paediatric screening technology developer that counts corporates BOE Technology Group and Rex Healthcare as investors, has secured $12.8m in funding, according to a securities filing yesterday.
The participants in the round have not been disclosed but Baebies is targeting a $13m final close for the round, according to the filing. It has now raised $35m in debt and equity financing.
Founded in 2014 to develop technology licensed from genetic sequencing technology producer Illumina, Baebies is developing a laboratory test called Seeker to detect lysosomal storage disorders in new born infants.
Seeker, which received approval from US healthcare regulator the Food and Drug Administration in February 2017, works by measuring the activity of certain enzymes in dried blood spot specimens.
The company is also working on a testing system called Finder that will use blood samples to expediently perform time-critical tests, potentially helping to diagnose life-threatening illnesses.
Baebies co-founders Richard West and Vamsee Pamula previously worked at Advanced Liquid Logic, a medical technology spinout of Duke University acquired by Illumina in 2013. Its screening technology formed part of Baebies’ intellectual property when it was founded.
The latest funding comes four months after Baebies secured $10m in a series B round anchored by internet-of-things product maker BOE Technology Group that featured North Carolina Biotechnology Center along with undisclosed family offices and returning investors.
The company had raised $13m in a 2015 round that included Rex Healthcare subsidiary Rex Health Ventures, as well as Dumac, which manages Duke University’s endowment, Duke Angel Network, Cunning Capital, Charleston Angel Partners, Triad and $500,000 in debt from NC Biotechnology Center.