Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Quanterix lands SBIR grant for early cancer detection

By Mass High Tech Staff

Cambridge-based drug discovery services company Quanterix Corp. has won a $185,000 Phase 1 Small Business Innovative Research grant from the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health, company officials report.

The grant is intended to support Quanterix’s single molecule arrays, which may be used at an ultrasensitive level for early detection of cancer proteins. The SiMoA technology is based on tiny “reaction vessels” that allow researchers to study thousands of individual molecules simultaneously, according to the company’s website.

Grant money will help develop both assays and instrumentation.

Quanterix announced in August its closing of a $10 million second tranche of a Series A funding round, backed by original Cambridge collaborator Flagship Ventures plus Arch Venture Partners and Boston-based Bain Capital Ventures.

Quanterix was spun off from Tufts University with technology developed by chemistry professor-turned-entrepreneur David Walt.  Under its original name, Digital Genomics Inc., Quanterix closed $4.1 million of a $20 million Series A round in 2007, according to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings.