US-based biopsy test developer Delfi Diagnostics has secured $100m in a series A round featuring Illumina Ventures and AV8 Ventures, which invested on behalf of genomics technology provider Illumina and insurer Allianz respectively.
Healthcare investment firm OrbiMed led the round, which included Menlo Ventures, Samsara Biocapital, Windham Venture Partners, Foresite Capital, Northpond Ventures, Cowen Healthcare Investments, Rock Springs Capital and funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price.
Delfi is using machine learning technology and recent DNA research to develop affordable liquid biopsies that will be able to detect a range of cancers from a blood draw.
Victor Velculescu, Delfi’s founder and chief executive, said: “We are measuring the consequence of abnormal mitoses, a fundamental hallmark of cancer that is exclusive to cancer.
“This means our assay is highly specific to cancer and only minimally affected by other diseases or aging. Additionally, our simple assay uniquely enables broad distribution, potentially to any clinical laboratory with a sequencer, and the opportunity for continuous improvement as more and more clinical data are generated.”
The series A funds will be put toward advancing Delfi’s technology into clinical studies and expanding its cancer research and machine learning teams.
The startup was launched in 2019 with $5.5m from a seed round led by Menlo Ventures and backed by Illumina Ventures, AV8 Ventures, Samsara BioCapital and Windham Venture Partners.
