The Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) and DVS Sciences have announced DVS Sciences has completed a $14.6 million series A financing. DVS, a Toronto-based spinoff from the University of Toronto, invented and manufactures instrumentation that enables paradigm-shifting biological research with potential clinical applications that include personalized medicine.

The company was an early recipient of seed funding from OICR, an independent, not-for-profit corporation established by the McGuinty government in 2005.  

The Series A financing was led by 5AM Ventures. Additional investors included Mohr Davidow Ventures, Pfizer Venture Investments and Roche Finance.

The financing will allow DVS Sciences to create state-of-the art manufacturing facilities in Ontario, establish a distribution network and increase global sales of CyTOF. The instrument, conceptually similar to a flow cytometer, enables highly multiplexed biomarker analysis for scientific research, clinical trials and personalized medicine.

“We are now in a position to commercialize our innovative instrumentation and reagents that will foster the acceleration of medical research, enable personalized therapeutic diagnosis and prognosis, and transform drug discovery,” said Dr. Scott Tanner, president of DVS Sciences.