Wauwatosa-based biotechnology startup TAI Diagnostics Inc. is working to raise up to $10 million in a Series A Extension round of funding.
The company, which provides non-invasive and highly sensitive diagnostic testing of transplanted organs, filed notice of the funding round with the SEC this week. The filing indicates it has so far raised about $1.8 million.
TAI plans to use the new capital for product development, clinical services and buildout of commercial operations.
Founded in 2015 and prior to the Series A Extension, TAI has raised more than $11 million, which Madison-based venture capital firm Venture Investors has participated in.
The company is a spinoff from the Medical College of Wisconsin that is now based in the Milwaukee County Research Park. TAI has found success in helping patients who have received heart transplants avoid organ rejection. Its patent-pending technology measures the amount of donor cell-free DNA released into the 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.