US-based oncological diagnostics company Foundation Medicine closed an expanded series A round yesterday with investment from corporate venturing unit Google Ventures, venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KCPB) and founding investor, the VC fund Third Rock Ventures. The round closed at $33.5m.
Foundation has developed a diagnostic test for cancer involving next-generation sequencing that it hopes will translate into a clinically relevant testing method for pathologists and oncologists.
In the past year Foundation has signed strategic agreements with pharmaceutical corporations Novartis and Celgene to assist in the development of its diagnostic tests.
Krishna Yeshwant, partner at Google Ventures, said: "We see a significant market opportunity for Foundation Medicine’s cancer diagnostic test. Foundation Medicine is proactively addressing the growing need for physicians to assimilate and make decisions on large amounts of complex data in an intuitive and accurate manner. We look forward to partnering closely with the Foundation Medicine team as the company develops their test, which will ultimately contribute to improved patient healthcare."