Medical diagnostics group Pathology Asia Holdings participated in a $70m series C round for US-based cancer diagnostics technology developer Bluestar Genomics on Wednesday.
The round was led by Mattias Westman, founding partner of asset management firm Prosperity Capital Management, while an undisclosed venture capital fund and an unnamed asset manager also took part. Vahoca was financial adviser for Bluestar on the deal.
Bluestar is exploring cancer screening products focusing on the genetic material of cells, otherwise known as the epigenome. It is working on a non-invasive test for pancreatic cancer and its technology is based on research in Steven Quake’s Stanford University laboratory.
The company has not revealed any earlier funding. It announced the series C round together with its appointment of Felix Feng, professor of radiation oncology, urology and medicine at University of California San Francisco, and Craig Venter, CEO of J. Craig Venter Institute, to its scientific advisory board.
Samuel Levy, Bluestar’s chief scientific officer and CEO, said: “As we continue to champion the development of next-generation non-invasive cancer detection, we welcome Drs Feng and Venter to our team.
“Their leading scientific and clinical expertise will help accelerate our development and commercialisation efforts. Collectively, these milestones will extend our ability to deliver on our promise to improve on existing cancer screening and provide a new solution where none exists.”
