Liquid biopsy has long been seen as key to the future of cancer diagnostics, treatment and even potentially prevention. But now, startup Karius Inc. has staked out its claim as the first to bring cell-free DNA analysis, which is often used in oncology and prenatal liquid biopsy applications, into the clinic for infectious disease detection, identification and treatment guidance.

Liquid biopsy startup Elypta AB has raised €6.1 million (US$6.72 million) in a late seed financing led by Industrifonden and Sciety. Norrsken Foundation’s newly launched €100 million “impact-first” fund also contributed to the round. The Stockholm-based company plans to use the money to complete development of laboratory kits and software for measurement and analysis of a panel of metabolites it has identified.

SAN FRANCISCO – Guardant Health Inc. has set the standard for liquid biopsy. That success has catapulted the Redwood City, Calif.-based company from an IPO in the fall of 2018 to a current valuation in excess of $7 billion. It has made its name – and much of its revenue – with its Guardant360 test, a molecular diagnostic test that assesses 74 cancer-related genes from the circulating tumor DNA to aid in designing the best treatment for advanced cancer patients with solid tumors.