Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Primera Biosystems pulls in $21M in second round

Molecular diagnostics company Primera Biosystems Inc. has closed on a $21 million Series B financing led by a British investment firm

The venture capital round was led by U.K.-based Abingworth LLP and included Interwest Partners LLC of Menlo Park, Calif.

Existing investors Malaysian Technology Development Corp. (MTDC), MPM Capital, Burrill & Co. and the Invus Group also participated in the round.

Mansfield-based Primera is developing a proprietary nucleic acid analysis system, STAR (Scalable Target Amplification Routine), according to company officials. The technology was invented by Vladimir Slepnev, Primera's chief scientific officer and co-founder.

The technology can be applied for gene expression, DNA/RNA analysis, micro RNA analysis, mutation analysis and methylated DNA analysis. Primera plans to commercialize its STAR platform and assay reagents to hospital and reference laboratories, and plans to seek regulatory approval in the future.

Primera closed a $2.4 million supplemental financing round in October 2007, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange filing. Primera has operated quietly since it closed an $11 million Series A financing in 2005.