C2N Diagnostics LLC, a St. Louis-based biotechnology firm that has created a blood test designed to help doctors detect Alzheimer's disease, has secured funding from a Japanese pharmaceutical company.
Eisai Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Tokyo-based Eisai Co. Ltd., said it’s making an investment of up to $15 million in C2N. The investment represents C2N and Eisai’s “shared desire to scale up and provide broad access” to C2N’s blood test, the firms said Wednesday.
C2N has raised previous funding, receiving $15 million in February 2023 from the Minneapolis-based GHR Foundation, which focuses on Alzheimer's prevention, building on a $20 million investment GHR provided to C2N in 2020.
Founded in 2007, C2N Diagnostics has developed the PrecivityAD blood test, which is used by doctors to assist with diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. C2N rolled out the test in 2020 and has billed itself as the first company to offer a widely accessible blood test for the disease.
Eisai, with its U.S. operations based in Nutley, New Jersey, focuses on developing oncology and neurology treatments. The company, which has 10,000-plus employees, reported revenue of $744 billion yen (roughly $5.6 billion) for fiscal 2022 ended March 31, 2023.
C2N CEO Joel Braunstein said his firm and Eisai have a long-standing relationship, with both companies focused on ways to better detect and treat Alzheimer’s disease. The firms in 2022 said they formed a partnership that sought to “build awareness and develop real-world evidence to support the use of blood-based assays in people living with cognitive impairment,” including those with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
Eisai’s funding will help C2N increase access to its blood test, Braunstein said. He said that will include efforts to secure clearance from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration for C2N’s blood test; increasing global distribution of the test; and demonstrating the test’s economic health value to have insurers provide reimbursement for the test. As part of its expansion, C2N has previously inked global partnerships with Australian health care company Healius Ltd. and Brazilian health care firm Group Fleury.
Braunstein expects C2N to increase employment locally, but said he’s currently unsure how many jobs the firm will add. C2N is “rapidly growing in St. Louis,” he said, adding more than 50 employees last year, bringing its headcount to more than 100 employees and contractors. C2N has its headquarters at the BioSTL Building at 4340 Duncan Ave. in the Cortex innovation district.
