DVS Sciences, Inc., a privately held innovator and manufacturer of highly multi-parameter single-cell analysers and reagents for biological research and clinical applications, announced that it has secured US$ 14.6 million in a Series A venture financing round. The proceeds will be used to accelerate the company’s commercial manufacturing scale-up of its paradigm-shifting multi-parameter single cell analysis solution.

DVS Sciences, based in Ontario, Canada and Sunnyvale, California is a spin-off from the University of Toronto. The financing comes from a combination of investors that include 5AM Ventures, Pfizer Venture Investments, Mohr Davidow, the Roche Venture Fund and the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research.

“DVS Sciences has made great strides in demonstrating the significant demand for quantitative, highly multi-parametric biomarker assays performed in single cells and we are pleased to be part of this significant Series A financing. The company is well positioned for high growth and to expand the cellular analysis marketplace,” said Andrew Schwab, managing partner, 5AM Ventures. “We believe that the CyTOF – MAXPAR platform will transform the performance of cellular analysis. By enabling the measurement of many biomarkers simultaneously in single cells, researchers will be primed to better understand the cellular dynamics of disease states, stem cells and other biologically relevant systems.”

The complete solution comprises a high-throughput mass cytometer for individual cell analysis, CyTOF, and a suite of MAXPAR reagents, which include stable-isotope-tagged antibodies. Functionally advanced when compared to current state-of-the-art flow cytometers, the CyTOF technology eliminates the inherent spectral overlap issues and enables quantitative, highly multi-biomarker analysis for scientific research, with potential applications in clinical trials and personalized medicine. Biological samples are labelled with MAXPAR tags and analysed using the CyTOF technology to simultaneously identify up to 100 biomarkers with very high resolution and wide dynamic range. The CyTOF - MAXPAR system is specifically built for biologists and single cell applications and addresses a critical need for improving the quantitative detection and characterization of biomarkers and disease states (e.g., cancer stem cells).

Researchers at Stanford University, led by professor of microbiology and immunology Garry Nolan, PhD, demonstrated the effectiveness of the CyTOF Mass Cytometer in a study recently published in the journal Science (Bendall, et. al. Single-Cell Mass Cytometry of Differential Immune and Drug Responses Across a Human Hematopoietic Continuum. Science, 2011; 332 (6030): 687-696). The project was focused on a 34-parameter bone marrow immunological and functional assay where subtle transitions between cell states were shown. Dr Nolan, who was a senior author of the paper, commented that, “Using this technology, we can tell not only what kind of cell it is, but essentially what it's thinking, what it's been doing, and what it may soon do or become.”

“This significant Series A financing puts us in a position to broadly commercialize our innovative instrumentation and reagents and help scientists accelerate biomedical research, delivering a quantum step towards personalized therapeutic diagnosis and prognosis, and transform drug discovery,” said Scott Tanner, PhD, CEO and co-founder of DVS Sciences. “By enabling the simultaneous detection of up to 100 disease markers in single cells, the CyTOF technology is an important tool in providing a dramatic increase in the information data rate and determining a personalized signature of disease, which will be useful in guiding diagnosis and treatment.”

DVS Sciences, Inc. manufactures and has global distribution of novel bioanalytical solutions for use in biomarker discovery, biological research and possible clinical applications.