Less than a year after closing a large funding round, a Durham-based diagnostics firm has raised nearly $12 million.
The company, Baebies, has raised $11.9 million of debt from 87 investors, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission dated Feb. 10. This follows the company closing a $28.3 million Series B round in May 2021.
At the time of the previous raise, CEO Richard West said the company planned to use the funding to continue to research and develop additional tests for its rapid diagnostics devices, called Seeker and Finder; to build up the company's sales force, marketing and customer service teams; and invest in a new facility to accommodate the company's growing staff.
A company official could not be reached for comment on this most recent raise.
The company develops and commercializes products that enable early disease detection with a focus on newborn screening and pediatric testing. In March 2021, the company announced it had delivered 10 million tests to newborn screen labs around the world since its founding.
The company's Seeker product tests for four lysosomal storage disorders, which are rare diseases caused by defects in single-genes. The company also has a testing platform called Finder.
Along with the recent raises, the company secured contracts and grants last year to develop additional screening tests for newborns.
In April 2021, the company announced it had received $3.9 million in initial non-dilutive funding to develop a sepsis test for newborns on its Finder instrument. The funding comes from the global nonprofit Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator, or Carb-X. The company can receive up to an additional $7.7 million in funding available based upon reaching certain milestones.
In May 2021, the company announced it was awarded $2.7 million from the National Institutions of Health to develop a rapid test panel for near-patient monitoring of heparin, which is a blood thinner prescribed to certain patients.
