Serimmune, a leader in understanding the functional antibody repertoire’s role in human disease, this week launched a Covid antibody epitope mapping discovery service. This offering now provides academic and biopharma researchers with ready access to Serimmune’s proprietary Serum Epitope Repertoire Analysis (SERA) technology.
Requiring only 100 ul of serum or plasma per sample, Serimmune analyzes each sample for IgG and/or IgM antibodies using its proprietary, 10 billion member, random, bacterial peptide display library. In addition to providing a composite score of the antibody epitopes identified in each sample to those observed in cohorts of individuals with mild, moderate and severe Covid-19 disease, the service provides single amino acid resolution epitope data across the entire SARS-CoV-2 proteome for each sample and shows how it compares to a large cohort of pre-pandemic controls and SARS-COV-2 positive samples; all in an easy-to-interpret, interactive html format.
“We have seen increasing interest from our academic and biopharma collaborators in utilizing the SERA platform to better understand antibody epitope profiles from naturally infected individuals and those receiving the latest SARS-CoV-2 vaccines,” said Noah Nasser, CEO of Serimmune. “We believe that the launch of this service will provide researchers with broader access to novel scientific insights for the prevention and treatment of Covid-19.” To learn more, click here.
Genomics software startup Allelica, a company that develops polygenic risk scores using genetic data to predict the risk of contracting common chronic diseases, has raised $1.75 million in a seed financing round led by Valor Ventures, Sternberg Health, and Pi Campus. Strategic business angels also participated in the round. As part of the deal, Valor Ventures General Partner Gary Peat has joined the Allelica board of directors and Allelica has relocated its headquarters to New York City. To learn more, click here.
ForSight Robotics has raised a $10 million seed round led by Eclipse Ventures and joined by Mithril Capital. ForSight is developing a surgical robotic platform that seeks to transform ophthalmic surgery with machine learning and automation. To learn more, click here.
Owlet Baby Care Inc., the pediatric digital health company, has appointed Jim Fidacaro as Healthcare General Manager. Fidacaro previously worked for Philips where he helped propel its healthcare informatics and marketing operations for Connect Care. To learn more, click here.
Ascension Ventures, which invests in health IT, health services, medical devices, and diagnostics at the early stage through late stage, has announced a closing of its $285 million strategic venture capital fund — its fifth fund. The fund has 12 limited partners, including health system partners for previous funds: AdventHealth, Carle Foundation, CentraCare, Children’s Medical Center of Dallas, Intermountain Healthcare, Novant Health, OhioHealth and OSF HealthCare. The fund also has four new limited partners: Luminis Health, Sentara Healthcare, Texas Health Resources and one undisclosed health system. To learn more, click here.
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