Roka Bioscience, Inc. announced today that it recently completed a Series C round of equity financing, raising $20 million in new capital. The financing brings the total amount raised to $57.2 million since the company's formation in September 2009. The investor syndicate included participation from all existing investors including OrbiMed Advisors, New Enterprise Associates, Inc., TPG Biotech and Gen-Probe Incorporated (NASDAQ: GPRO).
"We are very pleased with the continued support of our existing investors and their confidence in our ability to become a leader in providing innovative solutions based on molecular technologies for the industrial markets," said Paul Thomas, CEO and President of Roka Bioscience. "We are on track to commercialize our first molecular assay for food safety testing later this year," he added.
Roka Bioscience was established in September 2009 through a spin-off of Gen-Probe's industrial testing assets and technology into a new independent company focused on developing rapid, highly accurate molecular assays for food safety testing and other industrial applications. Roka's nucleic acid tests will be based on proven technologies and instrument platforms with exclusive licensing rights from Gen-Probe. Eighteen former Gen-Probe employees with expertise in industrial fields joined Roka at the time of the spin-off. Today the company has 75 employees.
"Combining a proven technology platform with an experienced management team and a large market opportunity is a recipe for success. We believe Roka has all three," said Jonathan Silverstein, General Partner, OrbiMed Advisors.
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