Advanced Cell Diagnostics Completes $12 Million Series B Financing

HAYWARD, Calif., Nov. 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Advanced Cell Diagnostics, Inc., a world leader in the field of in situ nucleic acid detection for life science research and clinical diagnostics, announced today that it has completed its $12 million Series B equity financing. New Leaf Venture Partners, a leader in healthcare technology venture investing, and the existing investor Morningside Ventures participated in the round.

Proceeds from the financing will be used to support the commercial expansion of its proprietary technology RNAscope®-based products and services into the life science research market and accelerate the entry of RNAscope into the clinical diagnostics market.

"New Leaf is excited to partner with ACD. Immunohistochemistry and FISH are well established technologies to monitor proteins and DNA respectively and each represents more than a billion dollar market today. ACD's technology is the first that we have seen which allows researchers to robustly visualize and quantify RNA in tissue. As such, we expect it to open up a large untapped market and become a mainstay in basic and translational research, while at the same time accelerating the development of advanced diagnostics," said Dr. Michael Dybbs, Principle of New Leaf Venture Partners.

"We have been most impressed by ACD's success in achieving all of its major milestones in the past four years. The RNAscope technology has proven to be a game changer in biomarker research and promises a new paradigm shift in clinical diagnostics development," said Dr. Gerald Chan, Co-Founder of Morningside Ventures.

"This oversubscribed round of financing is an important validation of the market potential of our RNAscope technology and it underscores the promise of our RNAscope-based diagnostic pipeline," said Dr. Yuling Luo, Founder, President and CEO of ACD, "We now have the resources to take ACD to the next level."

About RNAscope
RNAscope technology is the first automated multiplex in situ hybridization platform capable of detecting and quantifying RNA biomarkers in situ at single-molecule sensitivity. Traditionally, RNA biomarkers are analyzed by "grind-and-bind" assays such as RT-PCR, which lose cellular context critical for clinical interpretation. RNAscope provides single-cell gene expression information within full cellular and tissue context and is compatible with routine clinical specimen and standard clinical laboratory workflow.  Unlike antibodies which are available for only a small fraction of the human proteome and not suitable for the emerging class of non-coding RNAs, RNAscope assays can be developed within two weeks for virtually any gene in the human genome regardless of its coding potential. Currently, ACD offers RNAscope-based products and services worldwide to scientists in a broad range of research areas from basic research to companion diagnostics for personalized medicine. Customers include many world-renowned academic institutions and all major pharmaceutical/biotech companies.  

About Advanced Cell Diagnostics
Advanced Cell Diagnostics, Inc. (ACD) is a leader in the emerging field of molecular pathology, developing cell- and tissue-based diagnostic tests for personalized medicine. The company's products and services are based on its proprietary RNAscope® technology, the first multiplex fluorescent and chromogenic in situ hybridization platform capable of detecting and quantifying RNA biomarkers in situ at single-molecule sensitivity. ACD partners with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to validate biomarkers for targeted therapeutic development in cancer and other diseases. These partnerships provide the foundation for ACD to develop companion diagnostic tests in conjunction with partners' targeted therapeutics. ACD also pursues internal programs to develop proprietary diagnostic tests in cancer management. Learn more about ACD and RNAscope technology at www.acdbio.com.

Contact: 
Steve Chen, Ph.D. 
Chief Operating Officer 
(510) 259-9802 
[email protected]

SOURCE Advanced Cell Diagnostics, Inc.