NEW YORK – Precision medicine startup Aitiologic said Tuesday that it has launched with over €2.5 million ($2.77 million) in funding, including non-dilutive grants from the Austrian Promotional Bank (AWS) and the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG), to develop liquid biopsy tests for early disease detection.
The Vienna-based firm said it is commercializing a cell-free DNA assay for cancer, based on a proprietary technology developed by a company cofounder at Siemens Healthineers, from which Aitiologic recently obtained an exclusive intellectual property license.
Combined with the company's so-called Aitios platform for cloud-based interpretation, Aitiologic said its technology is "set to significantly enhance noninvasive prenatal and oncology testing." The firm also said it plans to accelerate its development, analytical validation, and clinical efforts through 2025.
"Backed by a strong investor consortium led by Push VC and Lana Ventures, as well as funding from AWS and FFG, we are well positioned to add tissue-of-origin resolution to liquid biopsy testing," Aitiologic Cofounder and CEO Andreas Posch said in a statement. "With promising proof-of-principle data for our Aitios platform, we are now working towards demonstrating feasibility in patient samples."