Company Press Release
Juno Diagnostics Announces Closing of $25 Million Series A Financing Led by Perceptive Xontogeny Venture Fund
Reproductive health pioneers developing genetic
testing solutions to dramatically improve access to prenatal care for all women
in all geographies
Experienced leadership team developed and launched the
industry’s first noninvasive prenatal testing product
Proceeds
to support clinical validation studies, product development, and commercial
launch of reproductive health offerings
SAN DIEGO, May 12, 2021 – Juno Diagnostics (JunoDx), a company focused on improving access to vital genetic
health information and led by industry experts, announced today the closing of
an expanded Series A financing round of $25 million led by the Perceptive
Xontogeny Venture (PXV) Fund. The capital will be used to support
clinical validation studies, product development, and commercial launch of
JunoDx’s product offerings for noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT).
“We are excited to partner with investors who
share our vision of enabling access to highly accurate, cost-effective prenatal
genetic testing solutions,” said Dirk van den Boom, Founder and Chief Executive
Officer of JunoDx. “This funding allows us to advance the development of our
clinical technology platform and rapidly bring our lead product to market. We
are dedicated to bringing the most advanced and cost-effective NIPT solution to
market in support of millions of families along their pregnancy journey.”
We
are dedicated to bringing the most advanced and cost-effective NIPT solution to
market in support of millions of families along their pregnancy journey
-Dirk van den Boom, JunoDx
With its lead product, JunoDx is ushering in
the next generation of noninvasive prenatal tests. The Company’s NIPT solution simplifies sample
collection and improves access to high quality genetic testing results without
the high cost, long lead times, and phlebotomy requirements of traditional NIPT.
Recent endorsements by professional medical societies have recognized the use
of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) as the most sensitive and specific screening test for
common fetal aneuploidies for all pregnant women, which drastically expands the
addressable market.
“With a highly experienced and motivated team,
JunoDx is positioned to become the cfDNA testing market leader driven by a sea
change in reimbursement and democratizing access via technology innovation,”
said Chris Garabedian, Chief Executive Officer of Xontogeny and Manager of the
PXV Fund for Perceptive Advisors. “We are excited to announce this investment
to support the JunoDx team in their mission to address the unmet need for cost-effective
genetic testing solutions. The team at Perceptive Advisors is confident in the
abilities of the JunoDx team to validate and commercialize best-in-class products
to provide customers with access to highly accurate genetic testing.”
The team at Perceptive Advisors is confident in the abilities of the JunoDx team to validate and commercialize best-in-class products to provide customers with access to highly accurate genetic testing.
-Chris Garabedian, Perceptive Xontogeny Venture Fund
JunoDx was founded by an experienced team who
developed and launched the industry’s first NIPT product while at Sequenom. The
Series A financing was closed following the generation of a differentiated
product offering and collection of promising clinical data. JunoDx is led by
Dirk van den Boom Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer, Mathias Ehrich M.D., Chief
Scientific Officer, and Jim Chauvapun, Chief Operations Officer. The Board of
Directors comprises Chris Garabedian, Fred Callori, SVP Corporate Development
at Xontogeny and Partner in PXV Fund, Dirk van den Boom, and Jim Chauvapun.
About JunoDx
Juno Diagnostics is developing genetic testing solutions to
improve access to vital health information.
The Company’s lead product is an NIPT solution that simplifies sample
collection and improves access to high quality genetic testing results without
the high cost, long lead times, and phlebotomy requirements of traditional
NIPT. The founding team worked together at Sequenom, Inc., pioneering the
development and commercialization of the first noninvasive cell-free DNA based
prenatal test in the United States. For
more information, visit www.junodx.com.
The Perceptive Xontogeny Venture Funds
The Perceptive Xontogeny Venture Funds are Perceptive
Advisors investment vehicles focused purely on early-stage, private venture
investments in life sciences companies. Primary investments for the Funds
include companies that are seeking a lead investor for Series A financings,
which include both companies that are seeded and incubated at Xontogeny and
companies that are seeded and incubated by other organizations, accelerators
and seed investors. The PXV Funds are also open to participating in syndicated
Series A financings as a co-lead or passive investor with other venture capital
firms. For more information, visit www.perceptivelife.com.