Blood Testing Startup Genalyte Raises $36M

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Genalyte, Inc., a San Diego company, announced $36 million in funding led by Redmile Group and Khosla Ventures. The company’s funding round followed a clinical study presentation that demonstrated its blood test product feasibility.

The company’s blood tests require a single drop of blood from patients and are completed in under 15 minutes using the Maverick Detection Platform. The tests can run 128 different tests.

Silicon chips use photonic microring sensors to help detect diseases. Genalyte wants to offer its blood tests in an outpatient setting. The company’s chips are pending FDA approval. The Institutional Review Board granted approval to run clinical studies on the company’s finger prick technology.

CEO Cary Gunn states, “Genalyte will be using these funds to fully develop our platform, and to prove performance through additional clinical studies.”

The clinical studies included 750 patients, who remained part of the four-month study. The study compared results from the Maverick Detection Platform and compared them to traditional lab results.

The studies concluded:

  • Feasibility of the detection platform
  • High correlation between positive and negative results
  • High correlation between Maverick and lab tests

Gunn affirms the company’s effort to bring its blood testing technology to the “near-patient” setting. The pharmaceutical industry uses the company’s product in a commercial setting already. “Near-patient” use allows doctors to use the technology for outpatients.

Results are given in 15 minutes, alleviating the wait for patients’ blood tests.

The medical industry requires Genalyte to be thorough after Theranos, a company founded in 2003, was criticized for the lack of effectiveness for a similar technology. The company’s valuation fell from $9 billion to $800 million in a two-year period between 2014 and 2016.

The company announced the closure of its laboratory operations in October 2016.

Genalyte, the new leader in the industry, needs to provide in-depth clinical studies on the effectiveness of its blood tests before the industry adopts the technology.