Pillar Biosciences LLC hopes to build a stronger foundation for its multi-cancer in vitro diagnostic, Oncoreveal Dx. The company filed a supplemental application for U.S. FDA premarket approval of eight additional types of cancer, which the agency accepted for review. The assay received FDA premarket approval for use in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and colon cancer in August 2021.
Even without an oracle, it is clear that Delfi Diagnostics Inc.’s $225 million series B fundraising round positions the company well to further develop its liquid biopsy tests for early cancer detection and monitoring. Delfi’s liquid biopsy platform uses a whole genome fragmentation analysis approach for both individual cancer and multicancer detection.
A new assay developed by Metadeq Inc. may be bringing the days of the invasive liver biopsy for non-malignant conditions to a close. The company’s liquid biopsy successfully used the presence of two proteins in blood to identify and stage non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and liver fibrosis in a study published in Gut.
Calyxo Inc. cleaned up with a $32.7 million series C financing round to support further development of the Cvac system for kidney stones. Questa Capital and CRG led the round, which brought the company’s total funds raised to $47.2 million.
SD Biosensor Inc. and SJL Partners LLC plan to take Meridian Biosciences Inc. private in a $1.53 billion cash deal reached after four months of negotiation. Meridian shareholders will receive $34 per share, which represents a premium of 32% on the share price at market close on March 17, the day before SDB and SJL first presented an offer to buy the company. On July 7, the proposed price was a 16% premium based on the one-month average price per share of Meridian’s common stock.
A study published in Human Reproduction showed no developmental delays in children conceived using capacitation-in vitro maturation (CAPA-IVM) technique developed by Lavima Fertility Inc. compared to those born through conventional in vitro fertilization (IVF). Researchers presented the results at a July 6 session of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Milan, Italy.
Two Israeli companies aiming to improve in vitro fertilization (IVF) success rates received good news recently, with Aivf Ltd. hauling in $25 million in a series A round for Ema, its IVF software platform, and Fairtility Ltd. gaining CE mark for its CHLOE EQ embryo quality decision-support tool.
If timing is everything, Femasys Inc.’s Fembloc has everything on its side. While the company’s dual tracks addressing infertility and providing permanent contraception may appear at odds, they both serve to put greater control of reproductive decisions and treatment in the hands of women. A permanent contraceptive, Fembloc offers an alternative to surgical tubal ligation by encouraging scar tissue growth in the fallopian tubes in an office-based procedure.
Joining a growing number of diagnostics companies mobilizing to minimize the spread of monkeypox, Novacyt SA and Seegene Inc. reported they have developed new polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays to quickly diagnose the disease this week. Roche Holding AG released three monkeypox tests for research use in late May. Abbott Laboratories and Becton Dickinson & Co. have similar plans. Stanford Medicine made its own diagnostic available to its patients last week.
Ceros Capital Markets and Peregrine Ventures evidently liked what they heard about Cordio Medical Ltd.’s Hearo voice app that can detect deterioration in patients with congestive heart failure (CHF), leading them to invest $18 million in the company’s latest venture funding round.
