A life sciences startup with ties to UNC-Chapel Hill has completed a $15 million series A financing round to accelerate the development of a platform intended to advance precision medicine.
The company, Codetta Biosciences, began operations in November based on technology that was developed by and licensed from UNC professor Michael Ramsey. In addition to covering startup costs, Codetta is using this capital to advance the technology into a commercial platform that can be used by researchers and physicians.
This includes bringing on new employees. In just the six months since launching, the company has grown to a team of 15 between its two spaces in the Triangle — an administrative office in Morrisville and a research and development center in Durham — and some virtual employees. By the end of this year, CEO TJ Johnson said, the company will reach 20 employees, with another wave of planned for 2023.
Anzu Partners, which has multiple offices in the U.S., led the financing round, which also included participation from Genoa Ventures and VC23.
In precision medicine, patients undergo various genomic tests to determine a treatment target. Generally, this is done through multiple platforms that look at DNA, RNA and protein biomarkers separately. That information is then synthesized and woven together. Codetta's platform is different in that it's being developed for these biomarkers to be analyzed simultaneously. The company plans to develop a platform that's more efficient and generates higher-quality data than what's currently available.
"We think this provides the best and most in-depth picture for the patient," Johnson said.
Johnson said the company is aiming to develop the technology into a platform that's a small, bench-top instrument that's affordable and easy to use.
