Biodesix, a Boulder, CO-based molecular diagnostics company, has been busy on the financing front, announcing today it has raised an additional $6.1 million from investors in an equity sale. The company also secured a $20 million debt facility last week.
Biodesix is developing VeriStrat, a test that can be used during the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer. The test is a serum protein test that can help doctors decide between two treatment paths: a drug called erlotinib (Tarceva) or single-agent chemotherapy.
Biodesix CEO David Brunel said the new funds will be used to expand the sales and marketing effort for VeriStrat and to continue developing additional tests.
Biodesix began its big commercial push behind VeriStrat in 2013, with an $8.8 million Series D round being used in part to establish a sales team. The new money will be put toward developing and executing the company’s sales strategy.
“We only just completed the build-out of our field sales force and are still heavily engaged in training and setting plans for 2014,” Brunel wrote in an e-mail.
Brunel said the company was pleased by the test’s early reception among oncologists, but he declined to cite sales numbers.
Biodesix also is looking beyond VeriStrat to develop other diagnostic tests. According to its website, it is looking at tests related to cancer treatment and degenerative diseases.
“We have several new products that are still in the validation phase, and until they have been externally validated we are not announcing them publicly,” Brunel said. “However, we have substantially increased our investment in new product discovery and development.”
The equity sale is part of a Series E round that opened in December, according to Biodesix. The company had initially raised $8.3 million, but it decided to add an additional $6.1 million in a follow-on sale, bringing the equity round to a total of $14.4 million. Biodesix’s prior shareholders provided all the money.
The round will remain open to current shareholders until September, a release said.
Biodesix has raised more than $80 million in equity funding, Brunel said.
Capital Royalty Partners is providing the $20 million structured debt financing. It is headquartered in Houston and has an office in Boulder.
