Armonica Technologies, Inc., a biotechnology company developing a high throughput, direct long-read DNA sequencing technology, announced that it has raised $2M in new funding. The financing included Hamamatsu Photonics K.K. and current investors Cottonwood Technology Fund, Sun Mountain Capital and Tramway Venture Partners. The funding will support further feasibility demonstration of company’s sequencing technology.
Akira Hiruma, President and CEO of Hamamatsu Photonics K.K., said, “At Hamamatsu, we are excited about our investment in Armonica, and their novel nanopore optical spectroscopy with its potential of new genetic sequencing methods to areas such as precision medicine. By investing in Armonica’s technology we hope to speed the development of new and more effective treatments to some of the world’s most devastating diseases.”
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The Company’s CEO, Victor Esch, Ph.D. stated, “There continues to be an unmet clinical need for fast, high throughput long-read sequencing of native DNA, with an efficient workflow, that accurately identifies variants and epigenetics to enable clinical applications. We are very excited about the progress the company has made in key areas of our technology, including the measurement of single nucleotide spectra.”
Armonica’s proprietary platform solves the fundamental challenges involved with traditional sequencing methodology, such as low speed and limited accuracy, by naturally controlling the speed of nucleic acid transport through nanochannels and reading single bases optically, without the need for library prep or adding biological constructs. Armonica’s optical readout technology is label free, has massive parallel capabilities, and can measure all epigenetic modifications directly. This unique approach to long-read sequencing will provide clinicians and researchers with a powerful tool that can detect previously unseen nuances and provide more accurate identification of genome variations and abnormalities.
Armonica Technologies is an Albuquerque, NM based biotechnology company focused on developing its proprietary long-read DNA sequencing technology. Armonica’s technology, optical nanopore sequencing, uses proprietary nanochannels to deliver long, single DNA molecules through nanopores, where characteristic optical signatures are read. Armonica’s approach will lead to faster, more thorough and more accurate genomic analysis than is currently available, without the need for extensive workflow and reagents. The Company’s innovative platform will enable clinicians to develop novel diagnostic tests that are based on complex variants including epigenetic modifications, and life science researchers to be more efficient and productive in their research and discovery capabilities.