Cambridge life science business Inivata, which was staring down the barrel in a fight for urgent funding, has clinched lifeline capital through a $25 million investment from the US.

A global leader in liquid biopsy technology, Inivata has formed a strategic collaboration with Nasdaq-quoted NeoGenomics, Inc for the commercialisation of its InVisionFirst®-Lung liquid biopsy test in the States.

NeoGenomics is a leading US-based cancer diagnostics and services company. As an established player in the field with significant commercial reach and scale it is a highly complementary partner to advance the commercialisation of InVisionFirst-Lung.

As part of the collaboration, NeoGenomics will make a $25 million equity investment in Inivata to take a minority shareholding with an option to buy the UK/US business outright. 

It will also take a seat on the Inivata board. The new funding received by Inivata will be used to enable the acceleration of the company’s innovative liquid biopsy products, including further development work on RaDaR.

Auditor PwC had warned recently that Inivata had until August to find the cash it needed to survive and thrive. This is some response! 

As Business Weekly pointed out at the time, the technology and team have always been world beaters but cash remains king even in the jaws of a pandemic.

Inivata’s liquid biopsy test offers competitive sensitivity with results being delivered within seven calendar days from blood draw and has already received reimbursement for US Medicare patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), paving the way for the test to be used in routine clinical care.

Inivata and NeoGenomics will also seek opportunities for collaboration with biopharmaceutical companies around Inivata’s liquid biopsy platform, drawing on both companies’ technology and expertise.

These collaborations could further accelerate the roll-out across Inivata’s range of leading liquid biopsy products including RaDaR™, the newly launched highly sensitive personalised assay for the detection of residual disease and recurrence. 

This product complements the use of other tests, including InVisionFirst-Lung, and is initially being utilised in clinical trial settings where it has the potential to increase the speed of patient recruitment through more accurate selection.       

Clive Morris, CEO of Inivata, said: “This strategic collaboration and equity investment provides the platform to significantly accelerate the commercialisation of InVisionFirst-Lung in the US, and bring its benefits more rapidly to patients and clinicians. 

“It will also drive the development and roll-out of RaDaR, our highly sensitive, personalised test to detect residual disease in multiple disease states.

“We look forward to working with NeoGenomics, an established and well-respected company in this field, and utilising its expertise to deliver further on the potential of our pioneering liquid biopsy technology to improve outcomes for cancer patients.”