Quanterix Raises $46 Million to Fuel Expansion of Clinical Diagnostics

By Stephanie Murg, Managing Director, G2 Intelligence

A fresh infusion of capital is set to fuel continued growth at Quanterix Corporation (Lexington, Mass.), which specializes in “high-definition diagnostics” made possible by its single-molecule array (Simoa) technology. The venture-backed company announced on March 23 that it has secured $46 million in a Series D funding round that will be used to develop desktop instruments, expand its menu of assays for protein and nucleic acid biomarkers, and broaden its global marketing reach.

Founded in 2007 by David Walt, Ph.D., who is also the founding scientist of Illumina, Quanterix is the exclusive licensee of an intellectual property portfolio initially developed by Walt at Tufts University. The company has raised $88 million to date, with the latest round of financing led by three new investors—ARCH Overage Fund, Cormorant Asset Management, and Trinitas Capital—with continued participation from ARCH Venture Partners, Bain Capital Ventures, Tufts University, and Walt.

According to CEO Kevin Hrusovsky, Quanterix’s growth spans the areas of oncology, neurology, inflammation, immunology, cardiac, and infectious diseases, and the company is on track to develop 60 new assays by the end of 2016. He expects desktop instruments to launch in 2017. A public offering may also be on the horizon.

Quanterix’s Simoa platform is based upon the isolation of individual immunocomplexes on paramagnetic beads using standard ELISA reagents. Unlike conventional immunoassays, it can trap single molecules in femtoliter-sized wells, allowing for a “digital” readout of each individual bead to determine if it is bound to the target analyte. Applications for liquid biopsies are an increasing area of focus, as is the potential for early detection of disease cascades.