US-based cancer diagnostics technology developer Grail received $390m in a series D round yesterday backed by genomics company Illumina.
Public Sector Pension Investment Board and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board also took part in the round, as did several unnamed new and existing backers.
Grail had secured an initial $125m in December 2019, when a regulatory filing showed a $250m target size for the round.
Spun out of Illumina in 2016, Grail has created an early detection blood test for more than 50 cancer indications with a false positive rate of less than 1%.
The test uses a proprietary database and machine learning algorithms to detect the presence of cancer and identify where in the body it is located.
The series D funding will go towards the continued development of Grail’s test.
Grail has raised more than $1.9bn in total funding, it said, though previous statements add up to more than $2bn.
6 Dimensions Capital, the healthcare investment firm co-founded by pharmaceutical group WuXi AppTec, co-led a $300m series C round with Ally Bridge and Hillhouse Capital in 2018.
The series C round also included WuXi AppTec’s genomic information subsidiary, WuXi NextCode, as well as Blue Pool Capital, China Merchant Securities International, CRF Investment, HuangPu River Capital, ICBC International and Sequoia Capital China.
Grail closed a $1.2bn round in 2017 featuring healthcare corporate Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merck & Co, Celgene, Varian Medical Systems, McKesson and Johnson & Johnson, the latter two contributing through McKesson Ventures and Johnson & Johnson UK Treasury.
Internet group Tencent and e-commerce and cloud computing firm Amazon also took part in 2017 round, as did Arch Venture Partners.
Illumina and Arch Venture Partners co-led a two-tranche $125m series A round in 2016 that included Sutter Hill Ventures, Bezos Expeditions and Bill Gates.
Grail’s shareholders also include internet and technology group Alphabet’s early-stage corporate venture capital subsidiary GV and Decheng Capital.
