Inflammatix invites series D investors

Inflammatix, a US-based molecular diagnostics company based on research at Stanford University, closed a $102m series D round yesterday led by D1 Capital Partners.
OSF Healthcare Ventures, the investment arm of health system OSF Healthcare, also took part in the round, as did Northpond Ventures, Khosla Ventures and Think.Health.
Founded in 2016, Inflammatix is working on rapid diagnostic tests that detect a patient’s immune response to infections by analysing mRNA biomarkers using machine learning technology.
The tests are able to identify whether an infection is viral or bacterial, and determine the risk of it becoming severe. The cartridge-based point-of-care system, called Myrna, produces results within half an hour.
The money has been allocated to seeking regulatory clearance and international commercialisation of Myrna, as well as an acute infection and sepsis test called InSep. The cash will also drive the continued development of Inflammatix’s product pipeline.
Tim Sweeney, co-founder and chief executive of Inflammatix, said: “We are thrilled to welcome D1 Capital Partners to our strong investor syndicate, and look forward to bringing host response diagnostics to market.
“By quickly providing actionable information about disease, Inflammatix expects to equip physicians to make better clinical decisions that benefit both patients and healthcare systems.”
Grey Sky Ventures, Khosla, Northpond and Think.Health previously took part in a $32m series C round for Inflammatix in January 2020.
The spinout identified OSF Healthcare as a returning investor for the series D round, although details about Inflammatix’s earlier equity financing are sparse.
Stanford University-affiliated Stanford-StartX Fund, Northpond, Think.Health and Khosla are all among its earlier backers, and the company signed a contract worth up to $72m with the US government’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority in 2019.