PreDx assesses the risk of developing the disease within five years based on roughly 20 biomarkers.
Tethys Bioscience closed a $25 million Series D round of financing. Proceeds will be used to expand commercialization of its type 2 diabetes blood test, PreDx™ Diabetes Risk Test.
The test is performed by the Tethys Clinical Laboratory to help identify those patients at the highest risk of developing type 2 diabetes within the next five years. It measures multiple biomarkers implicated in the development of this disease.
Tethys began with a search of scientific and clinical literature to find biomarker candidates associated with type 2 diabetes development. The screened biomarkers covered many possible pathways associated with diabetes progression, and each biomarker was assessed for utility and relevance. The list of candidate biomarkers contained over 260 markers, and assays were developed for over 89 markers.
Over a five-year period, 6% of subjects developed diabetes. Based on blood markers initially present in the blood of those 6% subjects, Tethys narrowed its scope of 89 markers down to less than 20.
The biomarkers used in PreDx Diabetes Risk Test relate to inflammation, fat and carbohydrate metabolism, coagulation, and cell death. It thus assesses changes linked to multiple aspects of the disease process and not just glucose metabolism.
“Tethys is breaking new ground in the diabetes field with the PreDx DRS, which will help clinicians to identify patients at severe risk of becoming diabetic, and who are most likely to benefit from focused intervention and disease-prevention management,” states George Rehm, managing partner of aeris CAPITAL and member of the Tethys board of directors.
Aeris CAPITAL led the financing along with Wasatch Advisors. All current investors including MDV-Mohr Davidow Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers, and Intel Capital participated in the round.