Biotia, Pioneering Pathogen Detection Company, Raises $2.4M Seed Round, Expands Scientific Advisory Board
Biotia, a health tech company leveraging next-generation DNA sequencing (NGS) and artificial intelligence (AI) software for precision infectious disease detection and diagnosis, today announced an oversubscribed $2.4M seed raise and expanded scientific advisory board.
Dr. Yiannis Monovoukas, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Falcon III Ventures, a Boston-based biotech fund who led the seed round, said, “Biotia has differentiated themselves in an emerging field through building a clinically-focused database and actionable microbiology report. They have led pioneering work with hospitals, clinicians and scientists, and built a sorely-needed clinical tool to identify and control infectious diseases.” Falcon III was joined by a noted group of angel investors and venture capital firms including Hyperplane Venture Capital, a leading VC in Boston.
The funds will be used to further develop and implement Biotia's diagnostic testing methods, including its AI-based software Chelsea, offer myriad advantages over the current approaches in hospitals, such as limited PCR panels or culturing. With one test, Chelsea can identify known and emerging bacteria, fungi, parasites and viruses from a clinically-curated and annotated database of over 16,000 microbial species, as well as antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genetic markers and virulence genetic markers. Chelsea’s engine offers a “precision metagenomic” test, including a complete report of the microbial profile and predicted drug resistance. The company expects this test will provide the guidance needed by clinicians to provide faster, more effective patient treatment and will help hospitals significantly reduce the number of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs).
Biotia has built one of the world’s largest precision metagenomics clinical databases by working with hospitals internationally. To date, this work has spanned across various medical environment samples and patient samples, including urine, stool, blood, sputum and soft tissue.
The company plans to launch new CAP/CLIA clinical diagnostic tests in early 2020. "We are excited for the next chapter at Biotia. After extensive validation, we are expanding our offerings from environmental testing and research-use patient tests to patient diagnostics to provide hospitals with better tools to diagnose and control infectious disease, improve health outcomes, and save lives," said Dr. Niamh O'Hara, CEO of Biotia.
Biotia is also announcing an expansion to their scientific and clinical advisory board to include key industry leaders Barry T. Zeman, F.A.C.H.E., Dr. Don Goldmann and Dr. Steven Salzberg. Mr. Zeman was previously the CEO of three NY-based teaching hospitals, a board member of the Greater New York Hospital Association and is currently a member of a national study team to reduce HAIs. Dr. Goldmann is a Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School as well as a Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, and Epidemiology at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. Dr. Salzberg is the Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Computer Science and Biostatistics at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Salzberg is also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a member of the Board of Scientific Counselors of the National Library of Medicine.
Dr. Robert Roland, infectious disease specialist at Overlook Medical Center, a New Jersey-based customer and part of the Atlantic Health System, said, “We have been very, very excited by the results we’ve seen from Biotia. We can already see how their technology can improve diagnostic methods and lead to life-saving identification of pathogens.”
About Biotia
Biotia is a health-tech company located in New York, NY, that leverages sequencing-based technology and proprietary AI-powered software to rapidly and accurately identify microorganisms and antimicrobial resistance. Their mission is to fight infectious diseases by deploying the leading reference library of microbes worldwide. As a spinout company of Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute at Cornell Tech, Biotia has a New York State CLIA lab for infectious disease diagnostics testing affiliated with SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University.