Genting invests US$2m in Singapore-based molecular diagnostics startup

SINGAPORE-BASED molecular diagnostics startup Nova Satra Dx on Tuesday said it has raised funding of US$2 million from Genting Bio Cellular Sdn Bhd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Genting Berhad.

Genting Berhad is the investment holding and management company of Genting Group.

Together with the funding, two directors nominated by Genting have joined Nova Satra's board, the startup said.

Funds raised will be used for regulatory approvals and commercialisation of its lead test, a non-invasive blood-based diagnostic test for breast cancer.

As part of the agreement, a wholly owned subsidiary of Genting Bio Cellular has acquired the exclusive rights to distribute the test in Malaysia.

The breast cancer test has recently completed multi-centre Asian validation trials, the company said, adding that it intends to make available a pipeline of molecular diagnostic tests across a range of cancer indications.

The test uses a University of Oxford-developed epigenetic platform technology which is a more accurate blood-based diagnostic test for breast cancer.

Kane Black, chief executive and co-founder of Nova Satra, said the funding brings not only capital resources but also substantial operational support to the company's research, development and commercialisation programme.