Helix is a San Mateo, CA-based population genomics and COVID-19 testing company led by co-founder and CEO James Lu, MD, PhD. It operates a CLIA-certified and CAP-accredited sequencing laboratory that powers its Exome+ assay and COVID-19 viral sequencing efforts. Helix's proprietary Exome+ assay sequences approximately 20,000 protein-coding genes and 300,000 informative non-coding regions to create genomic profiles. Since its founding in 2015, the company has empowered hundreds of thousands of individuals and participated in large-scale population health initiatives such as Renown Health’s Healthy Nevada Project and Mayo Clinic’s Tapestry program. The company intends to use the funds to accelerate its population genomics platform across health systems and life sciences companies and to continue COVID-19 testing and viral surveillance efforts. Helix raised $50M in a Series C to support these initiatives. Helix is a health‑tech company known for personal genomics insights that has developed a COVID‑19 RT‑PCR test and is pursuing an NGS testing system. Its RT‑PCR test received FDA Emergency Use Authorization earlier this month and is available nationally with next‑day results. The company has filed for EUA for a second, higher‑throughput NGS test that offers greater sensitivity and could help avoid false negatives. The NGS system is expected to process as many as 25,000 tests per day and to reduce strain on the testing supply chain. Helix plans to scale capacity to 100,000 tests per day by this fall and then extend throughput further. The company has received $33 million in federal funding from the NIH to support this scaling effort. Helix created the first online store for DNA-powered products and manages sample collection, sequencing, and secure storage so consumers can access multiple products without resubmitting samples. The company sequences samples once using its proprietary Exome+ assay, covering 20,000 protein-coding genes plus additional regions, via a CLIA- and CAP-accredited NGS lab in San Diego powered by Illumina, yielding roughly 100 times more data than microarrays. Helix’s marketplace included 35 products from 20 partners at the time of the announcement and was planned to grow to over 50 products in 2018, with major health launches from partners such as Mayo Clinic. Partner products are vetted through Helix’s Scientific Evidence Evaluation (SEE) process to assess underlying scientific content and claims. Helix supports research partners like the Healthy Nevada Project and enforces consumer privacy by allowing partners access only to the genomic window relevant to their product. The company was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area. Helix is building a central repository for personalized genetic information and a marketplace/API for gene-based applications. It aims to enable low-cost consumer genetic testing and provide a secure location for genetic data while opening that data to service providers offering customized applications. The company positions itself as both an API for personalized genetics and an "iTunes" for gene-based applications. Its first official partners include the Mayo Clinic (which is also making a strategic investment) and Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings. Jay Flatley, Illumina's CEO, will serve as chairman of Helix's board. Pricing for services will be in line with current consumer genetics services at about $99–$199, and Illumina said it will include Helix on its balance sheet with a pro rata impact diluting non-GAAP EPS by roughly ten cents.

Total raised

$383M

Funding rounds

4

Latest round

Series C

Latest activity

Jun 2021