Grail, a US-based cancer diagnostics technology developer that counts several corporates as investors, has raised $125m in equity financing from undisclosed investors, according to a securities filing flagged up by Axios.
The company is targeting a $250m close for the round according to the filing. It had raised a total of $1.65bn as of a $300m series C round in May 2018.
Founded in 2016 as a spinoff of genomics technology provider Illumina, Grail is using machine learning to developer an early-stage test for cancer that will detect the disease by tracking cell-free DNA and RNA in the bloodstream that has been shed by tumours.
The 2018 round was co-led by 6 Dimensions Capital, the investment firm co-founded by pharmaceutical company WuXi AppTec, as well as Ally Bridge and Hillhouse Capital, while another WuXi AppTec subsidiary, WuXi NextCode, also took part.
HuangPu River Capital, China Merchant Securities International, CRF Investment, Blue Pool Capital, ICBC International and Sequoia Capital China also participated.
Grail had completed a $1.2bn round in 2017 backed by corporates Bristol-Myers Squibb, Celgene, Tencent, Amazon, Merck & Co, Varian Medical Systems, McKesson and Johnson & Johnson, the latter two through McKesson Ventures and Johnson & Johnson UK Treasury, in addition to Arch Venture Partners.
Illumina co-led the company’s $125m series A round with Arch Venture Partners, raising the first $100m in a 2016 tranche that included Sutter Hill Ventures, Bezos Expeditions and Bill Gates. Its investors also include internet and technology group Alphabet’s GV unit and Decheng Capital.
