Nodexus and Aramis Biosciences will use their funds to expand their company’s pipeline and build their commercialization capabilities.
With $30 million in hand, Nodexus Inc. emerged from stealth mode with its NX One platform and mission to democratize biological tools, delivering affordable live cell characterization and isolation technologies to the life sciences community.
Based in California, Nodexus funds from the oversubscribed Series A financing round will be used to expand the manufacturing of its NX One platform. Funds will also be used to build the company’s commercialization capabilities and pipeline in order to meet what the young company calls “surging demand.”
The NX One platform provides an integrated and easy-to-use automated cell isolation that has applications in the biopharma industry, as well as in clinical research and university settings. The platform includes cell line and antibody development, CRISPR engineering, single-cell genomics, synthetic biology, and more. NX One uses microfluidic technology in combination with a compact, integrated system to provide on-demand cell analysis, sorting, and dispensing in an affordable manner.
Karthik Balakrishnan, founder and chief executive officer of Nodexus, said flow cytometry and cell sorting are valuable techniques for the life sciences community. He also acknoweledged that the technology can unlock new biological discoveries.
“The NX One system provides walk-up usable automated single-cell sorting and dispensing at unprecedented affordability to enable deployment into virtually any lab working on gene editing, cancer biology research, bioprocessing, and other quickly growing applications,” Balakrishnan said in a statement.
Balakrishnan added that the funding from the Series A will enable the company to expand its team in order to support the mission.
“We are excited to deliver a broadly available solution for customers spanning startups and academic labs to the largest life science firms,” he said.
The Series A financing round was led by RA Capital Management. Section 32 participated, as did previous unnamed investors.
Also bursting onto the scene today is Boston-based Aramis Biosciences, Inc., a company focused on immuno-ophthalmology. Concurrent with its launch, Aramis announced a $10.5 million Series A financing round that will be used to advance the company’s pipeline, which includes its lead asset, A197, a novel, first-in-class, topical immunomodulatory agent.
Aramis licensed A197 from Dompé farmaceutici. The company anticipates that the financing will enable them to advance A197 through Phase II clinical proof of concept for the treatment of dry eye disease.
Reza Dana, the scientific cofounder of Aramis, said dry eye disease is the top reason patients seek eye care outside of refractive reasons. However, Dana noted that less than 5% of patients are currently treated with dry eye medicines approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration due to suboptimal efficacy and tolerability limitations.
“Aramis Biosciences was founded to address this treatment gap with A197, a new molecular entity promising a rapid onset of action, a durable, disease-modifying effect and a clean tolerability profile,” Dana said in a statement.
In addition to Dana, Aramis is led by David S. Tierney, who serves as president and chief executive officer. Prior to Aramis Biosciences, Tierney served as president and CEO of Pharma Two B, BioPharmX Corporation and Icon Bioscience, Inc., now EyePoint Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Safar Partners led the financing. Aramis noted that other support came from strategic investments from a global leader in ophthalmic pharmaceuticals.
