NEW YORK – Selux Diagnostics, a Boston-based biotech startup, announced Monday that it has raised $48 million to support the US commercialization of its rapid phenotypic antimicrobial susceptibility test system.
The funding was led by RA Capital Management with participation from Northpond Ventures, Sands Capital, and Schooner Capital.
Previously designated a breakthrough device by the US Food and Drug Administration, the firm's Next Generation Phenotyping System (NGP) delivers rapid AST results within approximately five to seven hours from positive blood cultures as well as from isolated bacterial colonies grown in culture. Standard AST results take between three to five days.
Last month, Selux announced the FDA clearance of its Positive Blood Culture Separator, a device to enable AST directly from positive blood cultures, obviating the need for subculturing.
Selux's NGP system was granted 510(k) clearance last year along with a Gram-positive AST panel to determine susceptibility to 14 antimicrobials. Its Gram-negative AST panel to determine susceptibility to 23 antimicrobials was cleared a few months later.
The development of the NGP has also been supported by the US Department of Health and Human Services' Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). The firm's initial award was adjusted upward by BARDA in 2021 to a potential total of $60.8 million.
In 2022, Selux closed a $50 million Series C financing round and secured a $30 million senior secured term loan from specialty finance firm Oxford Finance.