Sep 11, 2023

(photo of V. Jo Davisson and Diana Caldwell provided by Purdue Research Foundation/Vincent Walter) A West Lafayette-based life sciences diagnostics startup is getting an additional funding boost, and more is on the way. Amplified Sciences, which is developing a platform to diagnose pancreatic cancer earlier among high-risk patients, recently completed a $1.5 million wave of funding that is part of an open Series Seed Preferred round, and that number could more than double. The first wave included investment from IU Ventures, the venture capital arm of Indiana University that supports IU-affiliated early stage companies. Amplified Sciences CEO Diana Caldwell told Inside INdiana Business the funding will allow the startup to scale, particularly once it clears certain regulatory hurdles. “We’re adding team members and bringing other additional partners that will enable the regulatory certificate that’s required to run this test as a clinical test for patients in a CLIA lab,” Caldwell said. “It also helps us build out additional tests on our platform.” Your browser does not support the audio element. The company is built on the work of Dr. Jo Davisson, a graduate of the IU School of Medicine and professor of medicinal chemistry and molecular pharmacology at Purdue University. Caldwell said the startup’s platform uses patented dyes that can detect biomarkers in a small amount of pancreatic cyst fluid. “So [the patients] have a cyst; it’s been diagnosed on their pancreas, and our technology uses a bit of this fluid to help physicians restratify patients as benign or no issues or potentially malignant,” she said. IU Ventures said Amplified Sciences is currently collaborating with IU clinicians and researchers to collect samples that are being used in clinical-stage testing. The startup is conducting further testing and validation of its platform in order to receive certification for the test to be used in CLIA labs, which are “sites that test human specimens for health assessment or to diagnose, prevent, or treat disease,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Once that certification is achieved, Caldwell said they can begin marketing the product to physicians, though she notes the startup plans to start small with a targeted launch and slowly expand its reach. The startup’s open Series Seed Preferred round, and more will be added following the $1.5 million first wave. Caldwell said the company has closed on additional funding in a second wave, led by Indianapolis-based Elevate Ventures and OCA Ventures in Chicago. A dollar amount for the second wave was not provided, but Caldwell said they are hoping to oversubscribe the round to nearly $3 million overall. Caldwell said the company plans to use the new funding round to extend its platform approach to other diseases. This is not the first funding round for Amplified Sciences that IU Ventures has participated in. The company closed on a $1.8 million seed round in 2021 that included additional investors as well. “We are thrilled to continue our support of Amplified Sciences’ mission to improve patient outcomes through early detection and preemptive treatment, and IU Ventures’ goal of driving innovation and impact in the healthcare sector,” Jason Whitney, chief venture officer of IU Ventures, said in a news release. The startup has secured additional funding since that time, including a Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Cancer Institute valued at over $400,000. Amplified Sciences was also named to the Pepperdine University Graziadio Business School’s Most Fundable Companies list in 2021. Story Continues Below