Mercy BioAnalytics raises $41m for lung cancer screening test

Mercy BioAnalytics raises $41m for lung cancer screening test

Time Stamp: April 4, 2023 5:05 AM
Source Node: 2563032

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Mercy Halo test is being developed for high-risk lung cancer screening. Credit: kalhh from Pixabay.

Mercy BioAnalytics has raised $41m in Series A financing to accelerate the development of its lung cancer screening test platform, Mercy Halo.

Novalis LifeSciences led the oversubscribed financing round, while other participants included Hatteras Venture Partners, Sozo Ventures, iSelect Fund, American Cancer Society BrightEdge, and Broadway Angels.

Under this round, the company also received strategic investments from Labcorp and Bruker as well as existing investors.

Mercy directors board member and Novalis LifeSciences partner Paul Meister said: “Mercy is taking a unique approach designed to address the challenges that have plagued early cancer detection liquid biopsy tests that seek to measure tumour-derived DNA.”

The Mercy Halo test platform is an easy-to-administer blood test for high-risk lung cancer screening.

A portion of the funds for the test will also be allocated to accelerate clinical programmes in additional indications, including ovarian cancer.

It is expected that the company will additionally use the Mercy Halo liquid biopsy platform technology for the development of a range of tests to facilitate the early detection of cancer.

The platform enables the simultaneous detection of multiple co-localised, cancer-related biomarkers on the surface of single extracellular vesicles derived from tumour cells.

The Mercy Halo test can be run on a low volume of serum or plasma with a simple PCR-based read-out due to the abundance of extracellular vesicles in circulation.

Mercy BioAnalytics CEO Dawn Mattoon said: “We believe the Mercy Halo testing platform is uniquely capable of delivering high-performing, broadly accessible cancer screening across all communities.

“A simple, inexpensive blood-based screening test could be a vital new tool to significantly increase patient engagement in lung cancer screening, creating the opportunity to save lives through early detection.”

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