Chinese investors in $30m round for US genetic testing firm

Existing Veritas backer Lilly Asia Ventures also joined the round, as did Chinese pharmaceutical giant Jiangsu Simcere Pharmaceutical. The capital will be used to expand the company's product portfolio and operations, add more hospital and research partnerships, and enhance the online experience for its clients, along with offering its services to overseas customers.

Veritas seeks to make genetic testing and hereditary disease screening affordable for a mass audience, and claims to be the first company to offer full genome sequencing for less than $1,000 and still make a profit. Its services also include less costly targeted screening tests for specific genetic disorders. The company operates from offices in the US, Europe and China.

"With a $999 genome, we are at the tipping point of a transformation in healthcare where the genome is going to be at the center of many decisions we make about our health and quality of life, throughout our lives," said Mirza Cifric, founder and CEO of Veritas, in a statement. The company sees additional opportunities in customers looking beyond disease detection to enhance their quality of life through better understanding their genetic makeup.

Lilly contributed $12 million in Series A funding to Veritas last year. The firm begun as a captive corporate VC arm of Eli Lilly but spun out in 2011 to start investing on its own. Recent investments include a $15 million Series A round last year for cancer therapy developer MabSpace Bioscience and a $10 million Series B round in February for drug developer Impact Therapeutics.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Save this article  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Greater China
• North America
• Healthcare
• Early-stage
• China
• USA
• Trustbridge
• Pharmaceuticals
• Venture