Sera Prognostics, a US-based provider of biomarker tests for pregnant women, closed a $100m series E round co-led by health benefits provider Anthem and investment firm Blue Ox Healthcare Partners yesterday.
The round included Vivo Capital, aMoon Fund, Parian Global Management and undisclosed additional backers, and it increased the company’s overall funding to $220m.
Founded in 2008, Sera has developed a blood-based biomarker test called PreTRM that can predict the chances of a singleton pregnancy resulting in a spontaneous preterm birth.
The proceeds of the round will be used to commercialise its PreTRM testing product and speed up the development of tests for other pregnancy-related medical conditions.
Marcus Wilson, chief analytics officer of Anthem, has been appointed to Sera’s board of directors in connection with the round alongside Anthem’s vice-president of emerging markets and partnerships, Elizabeth Canis, and Joe Siletto, managing director of Vivo Capital.
Blue Ox Healthcare Partners co-led the company’s $36m series D round in late 2019 with two undisclosed healthcare companies. It also featured life sciences research provider Laboratory Corporation of America (LabCorp), Domain Associates, InterWest Partners, Catalyst Health Ventures and Chione.
LabCorp had led Sera’s $40m series C round in 2017 investing together with unnamed existing backers. It had previously secured $44.3m from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Osage University Partners, Chione, Domain Associates, InterWest Partners, Catalyst Health Ventures and UpStart Life Sciences Capital across two rounds.
Image courtesy of Sera Prognostics