Cancer Diagnostics Company, On-Q-ity, Raises $21M in Series A Funding for the Development of Technologies to Personalize Canc...( WALTHAM Mass Nov. 3 /- On-Q-ity a nex...),Health

WALTHAM, Mass, Nov. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- On-Q-ity, a next-generation oncology diagnostics company focused on improving cancer therapy effectiveness, announced today that it has closed a $21 million series A financing. The funding was led by MDV-Mohr Davidow Ventures and included Bessemer Venture Partners, Physic Ventures and Northgate Capital.

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On-Q-ity is developing diagnostics to determine optimal treatment choice for cancer patients at each stage of the treatment cycle - from the first therapy choice to monitoring for recurrence. The company's novel circulating tumor cell (CTC) technology and predictive biomarker platform allows for the analysis of tumor tissue samples as well as the capture of rare tumors cells that are circulating in a cancer patient's blood. Those cells are then monitored for molecular changes that are characteristic of therapy response. This combination enables minimally invasive real-time data on a patient's status - allowing treatment adjustments before changes are visible with any other technology.

Mara Aspinall is President and Chief Executive Officer of On-Q-ity and a leader in the fields of diagnostics, oncology and personalized medicine. Formerly president of Genzyme Genetics, she expanded the business' scope and market reach to become one of the nation's largest diagnostic laboratories. She described On-Q-ity's technology as a paradigm shift in cancer care, explaining, "We will enable physicians to confidently choose effective therapy and then actively monitor their patients' treatment response or resistance. By using CTCs and predictive DNA repair biomarkers, we can help quickly determine if a therapy is working and reduce the cost as well as the loss of critical time associated wi
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