TORONTO, CANADA — (September 9, 2021) Rna Diagnostics Inc., a leading precision cancer diagnostics company, announced the closing of a CDN $8.0 M series A financing led by iGan Partners and BDC Capital, through its Bridge Financing Program.
“The continued support of iGan Partners and our current investors, combined with the support of BDC Capital as a new investment partner, is exciting,” said John Connolly, President and CEO of Rna Diagnostics. “The closing of this series A financing will allow us to complete the pivotal validation trial (BREVITY) of the RNA Disruption Assay™ (RDA)™. BREVITY is currently recruiting patients at over 40 breast cancer centres in Europe and North America.”
The RNA Disruption Assay determines whether a patient is responding to cancer therapy, early during treatment, independent of cancer type and cancer therapy. RDA measures response at 5 weeks after the start of a selected regimen. The RDA cancer diagnostic technology allows oncologists to assess a selected treatment’s efficacy early during treatment, thereby enabling the tailoring of chemotherapy treatments to an individual’s response to treatment in real time. This means that if a patient’s tumor is not responding to treatment, 80% of ineffective doses and lost time can be avoided.
“This is an enormous, expensive problem for cancer centres. Typically, in solid tumor cancers, only 30-40% of patients receive a survival benefit from a given drug regimen,” Connolly said.
“BDC Capital is pleased to be supporting Rna Diagnostics on its journey to bring Canadian IP to market as a finished product” said Jérôme Nycz, Executive Vice President at BDC Capital. “Helping Canadians commercialize IP developed in our universities is a priority for BDC Capital and thus, when we learned what RNA was doing, it was a natural fit for us to participate.”
“Rna Diagnostics’ RDA test will dramatically improve the management of cancer treatment for patients while reducing the costs of treating cancer,” said Sam Ifergan, CEO and founder of iGan Partners, “and we are proud to support the commercialization of Rna Diagnostics innovative cancer diagnostics platform technology.”
About Rna Diagnostics Inc. “The Chemo Response Company”
Rna Diagnostics is dedicated to improving cancer chemotherapy management. Founded in 2010, Rna Diagnostics’ first product, The RNA Disruption Assay™ (RDA™), currently in clinical validation, may provide physicians with an evaluation of how individual patients are responding to chemotherapy as early as 5 weeks after start of treatment. If chemotherapy is likely to provide the patient with a benefit, the physician and patient can continue treatment with confidence. If chemotherapy is not likely to provide the patient with a benefit, physicians may consider alternate therapies. For patients, this could mean avoiding harmful side effects and the possibility for improved survival outcomes. visit www.rnadiagnostics.com
About iGan Partners
iGan Partners is Canada’s health technology VC investing in entrepreneurs to commercialise and scale their disruptive innovations. Visit www.iganpartners.com
About BDC Capital
BDC Capital is the investment arm of BDC, the bank for Canadian entrepreneurs. With over $3 billion under management, BDC Capital serves as a strategic partner to the country’s most innovative firms. It offers businesses a full spectrum of capital, from seed investments to growth equity, supporting Canadian entrepreneurs who have the ambition to stand out on the world stage. For more information, visit www.bdc.ca/capital