Multimarker blood diagnostic predicts risk of developing the disease within five years.
Tethys Bioscience raised $33 million, comprising $23 million of venture financing and a $10 million working capital loan. These proceeds will support expanded commercialization of the Tethys PreDx™ Diabetes Risk Score (DRS), a multimarker blood test that can identify patients who have a high risk of developing type 2 diabetes within five years.
The additional $23 million brings the total raised in the company’s Series D round to $48 million.
“We believe that Tethys represents an excellent investment opportunity based on the growing market penetration of PreDx DRS, successful implementation of sound financial, commercial, and strategic initiatives, and a robust patent estate,” says John Avirett, principal, Greenspring Associates, a new investor.
“Tethys is executing an aggressive program to drive market uptake of the PreDx Diabetes Risk Score for the identification of patients at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes,” says Mickey S. Urdea, Ph.D., chairman and CEO of Tethys. “Since early 2009, more than 15,000 PreDx tests have been ordered in the U.S. by physicians for patients they suspect to be at risk for the disease. We plan to continue to build market share through our regional sales force growth, partnerships, and strategic alliances and to expand access to programs designed to motivate patients to adopt the lifestyle and behavioral changes necessary to preempt development of disease.”
Tethys evaluated biomarkers in small amounts of blood from select and well-characterized large study cohorts with known diabetes outcomes. The company then determined the combination of these biomarkers with an algorithm that best identified an individual’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes within five years.
PreDx DRS has been validated by the Tethys Clinical Laboratory (TCL) in several large populations, the company adds. The test uses standard immunoassay formats, sample collection, and shipment methods. Currently performed exclusively by the CLIA-certified TCL, the test generates a DRS between 1 and 10 that corresponds to an absolute percentage risk of developing disease.
