Precision oncological diagnostics developer Clearbridge BioMedics is planning to float, almost a decade after it was spun out from National University of Singapore and Smart Centre.

Clearbridge BioMedics, a Singapore-based precision oncology spinout from National University of Singapore and Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (Smart Centre), has raised S$6.6m ($4.8m) in funding from undisclosed investors.

Established by precision medicine developer Clearbridge Health in 2009, Clearbridge BioMedics has developed a cancer diagnostics platform called ClearCell that provides real-time tumour-cell tracking, giving clinicians a better idea of what precision therapies might be suitable.

The technology focuses on tracing circulating tumour cells – malignant bodies scuttling outward from the primary tumour that circulate via the patient’s bloodstream.

Clearbridge BioMedics’ first product, ClearCell FX1 System, is an automated cell retrieval machine that accrues circulating tumour cells from a small blood sample. The capital will be used for hiring, technology development and business expansion as Clearbridge prepares a public offering planned for late 2018.

ClearCell FX1 has received regulatory approvals in Europe and the US as well as in China through Clearbridge’s distribution partner MGI, the equipment subsidiary of genomics sequencing centre Beijing Genomics Institute.

Vertex Ventures, the venture capital arm of Singaporean state-owned investment firm Temasek, led Clearbridge’s $7.2m series B round in 2013.

The series B round also featured Clearbridge Health’s Biomedical Sciences Accelerator unit, as well as development agency Enterprise Singapore’s Spring Seeds Capital vehicle, venture capital fund BioVeda Capital and angel investor Lu Yoh Chie.

Clearbridge Health previously operated as incubator Clearbridge Accelerator, and Clearbridge BioMedics is the first company it incubated. The firm has since morphed into an integrated precision medicine group offering healthcare, laboratory and research services.

Smart Centre was formed in 2007 as partnership of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the government-backed National Research Foundation of Singapore, playing host to MIT laboratories, faculty, research associates and graduate students.

Johnson Chen, chairman and founder of Clearbridge BioMedics, said: “This pre-IPO funding will enable us to accelerate our growth and create a differentiated, cost-effective and sustainable model of diagnostic solutions in Asia.

“Barring unforeseen circumstances, we look forward to launching our IPO in the last quarter of 2018.”