liquid-biopsy
(11)
Karius
Karius is a Redwood City, California life-sciences company that turns a single blood draw into a broad infectious-disease diagnosis. Its flagship Karius Test uses microbial cell-free DNA (mcfDNA) sequencing, metagenomics and AI to detect more than 1,000 pathogens - bacteria, DNA viruses, fungi and parasites - often within a day of receiving a sample. Founded in 2014 out of Stephen Quake's lab at Stanford, the company aims to give clinicians a fast, non-invasive alternative to invasive biopsies and slow cultures, with a focus on the immunocompromised patients who need answers most urgently.
Apostle Inc
Apostle Inc is a Pleasanton, California biotechnology company that develops nucleic acid isolation and preservation technologies for liquid biopsy. Its flagship magnetic-nanoparticle kit, Apostle MiniMax, extracts circulating cell-free DNA and RNA from blood for applications in early cancer detection, non-invasive prenatal testing, infectious disease research, and even astronaut biospecimen collection in commercial spaceflight. Founded in 2018 out of the Stanford StartX accelerator, the company sells reagents, automation instruments, and CLIA/CAP lab services to researchers and diagnostics developers worldwide.
Aqtual, Inc.
Aqtual, Inc. is a Hayward, California precision medicine company that reads epigenetics, gene regulation and transcriptomics from a single blood draw. Its proprietary active-chromatin cell-free DNA (cfDNA) platform captures circulating chromatin to survey hundreds of thousands of regulatory sites, integrating DNA, epigenetic regulation and protein-DNA binding in one blood-based assay. The company is first commercializing a test that predicts which therapy will work for rheumatoid arthritis patients, with a broader pipeline spanning oncology, immunology, cardiovascular, metabolic and neurological disease. Aqtual has raised roughly $47M to date, including a $31M Series B in July 2025.
ARNA Genomics US Inc.
ARNA Genomics US Inc. is a San Francisco-based biotechnology company developing multiomics liquid-biopsy technology for early cancer detection. Its lead assay, ARNA Breast, analyzes cell-free DNA and plasma enzyme activity from a routine blood draw to flag early-stage breast cancer, with proof-of-concept studies reporting sensitivity above 90%. Founded in 2013 and led by CEO Egor Melnikov, the company raised a $3.5M Series A in 2020 to fund clinical validation.
Predicine
Predicine is a molecular insights company advancing precision oncology through non-invasive, multi-omic liquid biopsy. Founded in 2015 by former Genentech scientist Shidong Jia, the company builds NGS-based assays that read cell-free DNA and RNA from blood and urine to detect cancer mutations, track minimal residual disease, and match patients to targeted therapies. Its flagship PredicineCARE urine cfDNA assay holds FDA Breakthrough Device Designation and is in premarket approval as a companion diagnostic in bladder cancer, developed in collaboration with Johnson & Johnson's Janssen.
InterVenn Biosciences
InterVenn Biosciences is a South San Francisco biotech building an AI-driven glycoproteomics platform that reads the sugar coatings on proteins to detect disease earlier. Its flagship blood test, GlycoKnow Ovarian, distinguishes ovarian cancer from benign pelvic masses with ~86% accuracy and went commercial in 2025. Founded in 2017 by Aldo Carrascoso with chemists Carolyn Bertozzi (Nobel Laureate) and Carlito Lebrilla, the company has raised roughly $244M, including a $201M Series C led by SoftBank in 2021.
ClearNote Health
ClearNote Health is a San Diego molecular diagnostics company building non-invasive, blood-based tests that detect high-mortality cancers early, when treatment works best. Spun out of Stephen Quake's Stanford lab in 2016 (originally as Bluestar Genomics), it pairs a proprietary 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) epigenomic platform with cell-free DNA analysis and machine learning. Its flagship Avantect Pancreatic Cancer Test targets high-risk patients - including adults 50+ newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes - and the company is extending the approach to ovarian and multi-cancer detection.
GeneCentric Therapeutics
GeneCentric Therapeutics is a Durham, North Carolina precision-oncology company that reads cancer's gene activity, not just its mutations, from a tube of blood. Its proprietary EXpressCT technology infers RNA-based gene expression signatures from cell-free DNA fragmentomics, and its GenomicsNext platform combines that expression read-out with DNA variant detection in a single liquid biopsy. The company also markets PurIST, an RNA expression subtyping test for pancreatic cancer. Founded in 2011 out of gene-expression research at UNC, GeneCentric partners with biopharma and commercial labs to bring richer, blood-based biomarkers into routine cancer care.
NVIGEN Inc.
NVIGEN Inc. is a Sunnyvale, California nanobiotechnology company that engineers multifunctional, biodegradable magnetic and fluorescent nanoparticles for biomedical research, diagnostics and therapeutics. Built on its proprietary nanoparticle-imaging-delivery (NID) and MagVigen platforms, NVIGEN makes reagents and assays that capture DNA, RNA, proteins and rare cells from a single blood or tissue sample - powering liquid biopsy, NGS/multiomics sample preparation, single-cell spatial sequencing, and targeted drug and cell therapy. Its products are used by researchers at more than 40 institutions worldwide.
Superfluid Dx, Inc.
Superfluid Dx is a South San Francisco diagnostics company building a blood-based test for Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative conditions. Its platform isolates cell-free messenger RNA (cf-mRNA) from a single tube of blood and pairs next-generation sequencing with RNA deconvolution and machine-learning analysis to read out organ-level biology - aiming to detect disease years earlier than conventional methods and to guide therapy. The company was formed in late 2023 when WRQ Sciences acquired and renamed Molecular Stethoscope, and is led by Fluidigm co-founder Gajus Worthington alongside Stanford bioengineer and serial founder Steve Quake.
Tempus AI
Tempus AI is a Chicago-based health technology company that has built one of the world's largest libraries of clinical and molecular data, paired with an AI operating system that helps physicians and researchers make data-driven decisions in oncology, cardiology, radiology, and beyond. Founded in 2015 by Groupon co-founder Eric Lefkofsky after his wife's cancer diagnosis, the company sequences patient genomes, structures messy clinical records, and turns that data into diagnostics and AI tools used across a majority of U.S. academic medical centers. It went public on Nasdaq in June 2024 under the ticker TEM.