Firefly News
October 21, 2011
Firefly BioWorks, Inc. Announces the Closing of a $2M Financing for Expanded Commercial Development
Cambridge, MA -- October 21, 2011 (Business Wire) -- Firefly BioWorks, Inc., a developer of instrument-independent multiplexed assays, announced today the closing of a $2M private placement offering. Proceeds from this financing will be used to execute the company's commercial strategy, by launching an early access program with leading academic and industrial partners.
"We are very pleased that our offering was so well received and thrilled by the caliber of our investors, many of whom are industry veterans. We are now eager to see our first products in the hands of real users and will treasure their feedback," said Dr. Davide Marini, Firefly co-founder and CEO. "We are extremely happy with the progress we have made in developing assays that can be run on standard cytometers," said Dr. Daniel Pregibon, Firefly co-founder and inventor of Optical Liquid Stamping, the company's core technology. "We now look forward to field testing and refining our products." Firefly is currently inviting scientists to participate in an Early Access Program to help test its products and refine its target applications. Qualified participants will receive Firefly kits free of charge, in exchange for their feedback on robustness, performance and ease of use.
About Firefly BioWorks
Firefly BioWorks, Inc. (Cambridge, MA) is introducing an open platform allowing industrial, academic and clinical scientists to develop and use multiplexed biological assays on standard laboratory instrumentation. The company's core technology, Optical Liquid Stamping, was developed in the Chemical Engineering Department at MIT by Firefly co-founders. The method allows rapid and scalable synthesis of encoded, multi-functional particles for the quantification of biological function. The company's long-term vision is to provide research and clinical scientists with reliable and affordable solutions for the comprehensive monitoring of biological systems.
August 5, 2011
Firefly BioWorks, Inc. Announces the Award of a $2M Grant from the National Institutes of Health for microRNA Profiling in Cancer Diagnostics
Cambridge, MA -- August 5, 2011 (Business Wire) -- Firefly BioWorks, Inc., a manufacturer of universally compatible multiplex assays, announced today it was awarded a $2M Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Cancer Institute for microRNA profiling. MicroRNAs are an emerging class of biomarkers that are proving to be important indicators for early diagnosis of cancer and other diseases. The company will use the award to expand production capacity and validate its microRNA assay against the current state of the art. The goal of the Phase II studies is to develop a product providing a combination of performance, throughput and cost not available from existing solutions.
"We are excited to build upon promising results from Phase I" said Dr. Daniel Pregibon, Firefly co-founder and CTO, "and look forward to working with our academic and industry partners to develop innovative research tools in this important field." Firefly's core technology was developed in the laboratory of Prof. Patrick Doyle, in the Chemical Engineering Department at MIT, who said: "I am very excited to see an academic discovery from my lab being translated into a product which holds great promise for improving cancer research and diagnosis." Prof. Doyle is also a Firefly co-founder and chairs its Scientific Advisory Board.
"We are extremely grateful to the Small Business Innovation Research program and the National Cancer Institute for their continued support of our technology and vision" said Dr. Davide Marini, Firefly co-founder and CEO. "The SBIR program continues to provide a crucial source of energy to the entrepreneurial ecosystem, which is at the heart of America's competitiveness".
About Firefly BioWorks
Firefly BioWorks, Inc. (Cambridge, MA) is introducing an open platform allowing industrial, academic and clinical scientists to develop and use multiplexed biological assays on standard laboratory instrumentation. The company's first line of products will consist of encoded hydrogel microparticles that can be read on standard flow cytometers, microarray readers and fluorescence microscopes. Firefly's multi-functional microparticles are produced by Optical Liquid Stamping, a ground-breaking microfabrication method allowing rapid synthesis of complex reagents for biological analysis. The company's long-term vision is to provide research and clinical scientists with reliable and affordable solutions for the comprehensive characterization of biological function.
May 21, 2011
Firefly was featured in the video "The Ecosystem: Nurturing Entrepreneurship at MIT"