Wauwatosa-based TAI Diagnostics Inc. has completed its $10 million series A extension funding round.
The biotechnology startup, a Medical College of Wisconsin spinoff based in the Milwaukee County Research Park, reported the preferred equity round to the SEC in October.
TAI Diagnostics, founded in 2015, provides non-invasive and highly sensitive diagnostic testing of transplanted organs. It is focused on helping patients who have received heart transplants avoid organ rejection by measuring the amount of donor cell-free DNA released into a recipient’s bloodstream, which can indicate whether an organ is injured using just a blood sample. This process is highly sensitive and specific, and also less expensive than the traditional endomyocardial biopsy and pathologist interpretation performed on cardiac transplant patients to assess rejection.
TAI plans to use the new capital for research and development, clinical studies and the commercial launch of its post-transplant monitoring assays.
The company was founded by Dr. Aoy Tomita-Mitchell, a professor and researcher at the Medical College of Wisconsin, and Dr. Michael Mitchell, a pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon at the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, who invented the technology.
TAI has now raised a total of $21 million since its inception.
TAI also today announced it has formed a collaboration agreement with one of the investors in this latest funding round, United Therapeutics Corp. The Silver Spring, Maryland-based biotechnology company has brought five products to market for chronic and life-threatening conditions.
“We are very excited about working with United Therapeutics and utilizing our proprietary cfDNA technology as a companion diagnostic in their mission to increase the supply of transplantable organs and tissues and improve transplant patient outcomes through a variety of technologies under development, including xenotransplantation, organ manufacturing, regenerative medicine and ex-vivo lung preservation,” said Frank Langley, chief executive officer of TAI Diagnostics. “United Therapeutics has demonstrated the ability to be a leader in therapeutics for pulmonary arterial hypertension and we believe they will also be transformational in organ transplantation.”
“We are impressed with the sophistication and innovation of TAI’s technology and the passion of its mission to improve transplant outcomes, which we share,” said Paul Mahon, executive vice president of United Therapeutics. “As we continue development toward our goal of creating an unlimited supply of transplantable organs, the importance of transplant monitoring is an area of interest, and TAI’s cfDNA technology nicely complements our efforts.”
