Sense announces increase of Series B to $65M to support launch of rapid, point-of-care molecular diagnostic 

Global molecular diagnostics innovator, Sense Biodetection (Sense), today announced that after achieving several key milestones this year, the company’s Series B funding round has been increased to $65M, an additional $15 million from prior commitments. The round was led by existing investor Koch Disruptive Technologies (KDT), a subsidiary of Koch Industries, Inc.

Funds from the round will be used to support the anticipated U.S. and European commercial launch of Sense’s COVID-19 Test on the company’s Veros™ instrument-free molecular platform. Sense recently completed an extensive, prospective, multi-site clinical study that supported the company’s Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) submission to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for marketing clearance of the Veros COVID-19 Test. Veros has the potential to be the first and only instrument-free, single-use, rapid, point-of-care molecular diagnostic testing platform that produces lab-quality results within 15 minutes.

“Since our initial investment in Sense, we have witnessed the huge potential of the Veros platform and its promise to transform healthcare – and specifically its application for COVID-19 testing. We are enthusiastic about Sense’s future and its potential to change the way medical providers and patients approach healthcare, and we look forward to supporting the company as it seeks EUA and launches its first test.”  said Brett Chugg, senior managing director, Koch Disruptive Technologies.

Globally, there have been over 244 million total confirmed cases of COVID-19, including more than 4.9 million deaths. Currently, COVID-19 infection is often confirmed by a laboratory-based molecular method. While current methods produce highly accurate results, they have many limitations including high costs, time delays, and requirements for expensive equipment and training. This can make it difficult for providers to reach everyone, especially under-served and under-resourced communities.

Unconstrained by an instrument or reader, the Veros platform has the potential to improve access to rapid, highly accurate, point of care testing for many more people, and help reduce the spread of COVID-19 with faster, more precise diagnoses. Using a proprietary rapid molecular amplification technology, Veros aims to deliver instrument-free, PCR-quality laboratory results directly to users within minutes.

“People with suspected COVID-19 infection and other deadly and costly diseases must know quickly whether they are infected. Our aim is to overcome the barriers of current diagnostic testing with an easy-to-use, rapid, disposable molecular test. This increased funding by our current investors combined with our EUA submission, are two important milestones in getting our solution into the hands of clinicians. We feel fortunate to have such supportive and reliable partners and look forward to further advancing the Veros platform toward commercialization in 2022, starting with the Veros COVID-19 test.” said Timothy I. Still, CEO of Sense.