NEW YORK — Sera Prognostics said on Thursday that it has closed a $100 million Series E financing round.
The round was led by existing investors Anthem and Blue Ox Healthcare Partners, with participation from Vivo Capital, aMoon Fund, and Parian Global.
In conjunction with the round, Marcus Wilson, chief analytics officer of Anthem; Elizabeth Canis, Anthem's VP of emerging markets and partnerships; and Joe Siletto, managing director of Vivo Capital, have joined Sera's board.
Sera said it will use the proceeds of the financing to support the ongoing commercialization of PreTRM, a blood-based test that measures the levels of two proteins to predict a pregnant woman's risk of giving preterm birth. In 2017, Laboratory Corporation of America signed on as the exclusive US distributor of the test.
Salt Lake City-based Sera said it will also use the money to advance its pipeline of biomarker tests for other pregnancy-related conditions and increase its testing capacity for PreTRM.
The firm said it is currently building out a sales force to sell PreTRM to obstetrical practices and is in discussions with payers regarding reimbursement for the test.
In January, Sera and Anthem announced a collaboration on a study to investigate the use of PreTRM to determine whether the test can improve patient outcomes and reduce healthcare spending.