GenDx Secures Growth Investment from Ampersand Capital Partners to Advance Molecular Diagnostics

VCBeat (WeChat Official Account: vcbeat) has learned that Genome Diagnostics B.V. (GenDx) recently announced that Ampersand Capital Partners has completed a growth equity investment in the company, with the specific investment amount undisclosed. The collaboration between Ampersand and GenDx aims to promote the development of molecular diagnostic products and the sustainable growth of the service market.

GenDx, located at the Utrecht Science Park in the Netherlands, was founded in 2005 by Dr. Erik Rozemuller, Dr. Wietse Mulder, and UMC Utrecht Holdings BV. The company primarily develops, manufactures, and markets a range of tools, reagents, and analysis software for in vitro diagnostics (IVD), and provides training courses on high-resolution HLA typing technologies.

GenDx is a pioneer in the field of sequence-based typing (SBT), providing reagents and software for high-resolution HLA typing using both Sanger sequencing and next-generation sequencing (NGS) methods. High-resolution HLA typing technology enables rapid and accurate matching for patients requiring bone marrow transplantation, thereby reducing transplant rejection rates and improving surgical success and post-operative survival rates.

In 2013, GenDx began developing and distributing products for chimerism monitoring. Leveraging its extensive in-house expertise, GenDx also provides customized laboratory services to organizations engaged in basic and clinical research.

Regarding this financing round, Dr. Mulder, majority shareholder and CEO of GenDx, commented: “GenDx has successfully operated as a fully independent organization for nearly 15 years. We are delighted to partner with Ampersand to uphold the vision of ‘meaningful entrepreneurship’ and continue providing the best products, training courses, and services to the global transplantation community.”

David Parker, General Partner at Ampersand, added, “Given Ampersand’s prior experience in the transplantation and NGS markets, we are impressed by the differentiated products and services offered by GenDx. We are delighted to collaborate with the GenDx team and look forward to the company’s continued growth driven by long-term profitable expansion.”

In this transaction, David Parker and Dr. Mike Evans, Operating Partner at Ampersand, joined the GenDx Board of Directors.

The human leukocyte antigen (HLA) system comprises a large number of highly variable genes and allelic variants, which form the foundation of the human immune defense system. In stem cell transplantation, matching patients with donors is critical, as even minor differences in HLA alleles can significantly impact transplant outcomes. High-resolution HLA typing is a technique capable of identifying the smallest nucleotide-level variations, making it an ideal choice for stem cell transplantation.

Following stem cell or bone marrow transplantation, the detection of both donor and recipient cells in the recipient’s bloodstream is referred to as chimerism. Monitoring chimerism allows for the assessment of the trend toward recipient cell reconstitution over time.

Ampersand, founded in 1988, is a middle-market private equity firm dedicated to growth-oriented investments in the healthcare sector. Ampersand maintains offices in Boston, Massachusetts, and Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Leveraging its unique private equity and operational expertise, Ampersand has supported numerous market-leading companies in the healthcare industry, including Avista Pharma Solutions, Brammer Bio, Confluent Medical, Genewiz, Genoptix, Talecris Biotherapeutics, and Viracor-IBT Laboratories.

(Compiled by Wang Yi)