Illumina Ventures has led a series A1 round for Cernostics, a cancer diagnostics company that has now raised $13m from backers including UPMC Enterprises.

Cernostics, a US-based cancer diagnostics company partly based on research at University of Pittsburgh, yesterday raised $2.5m in a series A1 round led by Illumina Ventures, the investment arm of genomics company Illumina.

Founded in 2008, Cernostics is working on a test aimed at patients suffering from Barrett’s oesophagus to predict their risk of developing oesophageal cancer.

Barrett’s oesophagus affects more than three million patients in the US. The condition is caused by chronic exposure of the oesophageal cell lining…