Spear Bio Secures $45 Million in Oversubscribed Series A Financing to Accelerate Product Launch for Protein Research and Disease Diagnostics
July 29 2024 - 7:00AM
Business Wire
Spear Bio Inc., a biotechnology company enabling the measurement
of protein molecules down to dozens of copies with ubiquitous qPCR
equipment, announced the successful closing of its $45 million
Series A financing. The oversubscribed round was co-led by Foresite
Capital and Bio-Techne Corporation, with additional participation
from existing investors including Maverick Ventures, Yonjin Capital
and CDH Investments. Vikram Bajaj, Managing Director of Foresite
Capital, has joined the company’s Board of Directors.
Leveraging standard qPCR instruments, with a three-step
wash-free workflow, Spear Bio's patented Successive Proximity
Extension Amplification Reaction (SPEAR) technology precisely
measures protein biomarkers at the attomolar level without
high-affinity antibodies from less than 1 microliter sample volume,
100 times less than the typical sample volume required for
immunoassays.
“We are grateful for the strong support from such an exceptional
group of investors. Foresite has been instrumental in the success
of multiple game-changing life science tool and diagnostics
companies, and Bio-Techne is a global industry leader, providing
solutions for scientific advancements and healthcare
breakthroughs.” said Dr. Feng Xuan, co-founder and CEO of Spear
Bio. “Their investment is a strong endorsement of SPEAR technology
and the company’s vision. This funding will allow us to accelerate
our assay menu expansion and commercial offerings to solve
challenges in protein research and early disease diagnostics.”
"Foresite Capital is excited to support Spear Bio's
transformative mission," said Dr. Vikram Bajaj, Managing Director
of Foresite Capital. "I believe SPEAR technology has immense
potential to advance neurodegenerative disease research and
diagnostics by providing robust and scalable solutions for
low-abundant protein biomarker measurement. I look forward to
contributing to Spear Bio’s growth as a board member."
“We are excited to invest in Spear Bio,” said Kim Kelderman,
President and CEO of Bio-Techne. “Spear Bio’s ultra-sensitive
detection technology offers significant advantages over
conventional immunoassay and next-gen proteomic technologies,
enabling the quantification of mere dozens of protein molecules in
a sample. This level of sensitivity unlocks several challenging
applications and high-growth markets, including early diagnosis of
neurodegenerative diseases. Importantly, Spear Bio’s assays run on
qPCR equipment, which is routinely found in research and clinical
facilities, representing an existing installed base to run these
groundbreaking assays.”
Spear Bio is presenting its technology and applications to
neurology at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference
(AAIC) in Philadelphia from July 28th to August 1, at Booth #740 on
the exhibit floor and Poster presentation #279 on Wednesday, July
31.
About Spear Bio
Spear Bio – founded in 2021 and headquartered in Woburn,
Massachusetts – is an innovative leader in providing scalable
solutions for ultra-sensitive protein biomarker measurements. Spear
Bio’s proprietary technology, Successive Proximity Extension
Amplification Reaction (SPEAR), employs a unique 2-factor
authentication mechanism to precisely measure protein biomarkers at
attomolar level from sub-microliter sample volume. Spear Bio is
focused on leveraging its technology’s unprecedented sensitivity to
transform protein research and early disease diagnosis.
For further information, please visit www.spear.bio or email
info@spear.bio.
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For media inquiries: Danielle Svancara
danielle.svancara@spear.bio