CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Vizgen, Inc., the life science company dedicated to improving human health by visualizing single-cell spatial genomics information, has announced a significant capital raise to fuel its continued growth and execution of long-term vision. At the same time, the company has also taken steps to streamline its operations and reduce headcount. These measures come in response to unlawful monopolistic conduct by 10x Genomics and Harvard University, Vizgen’s own licensor—including baseless patent litigation in the U.S. and Europe.
Despite being the target of anticompetitive legal claims, Vizgen remains fully committed to its mission of providing the industry’s best tools for single-cell spatial biology and driving discoveries aimed at improving human health. With the new funding, Vizgen continues to invest in the development of its groundbreaking technologies, ensuring a long-term commitment to support its customers.
“Our belief in and support of Vizgen is strong. The team continues to deliver the powerful MERFISH technology to scientists, enabling groundbreaking advancements in the spatial genomics landscape,” stated Andrea Jackson, Partner of Northpond Ventures.
“I extend my heartfelt gratitude to every Vizgen employee, past and present, for their unwavering hard work, commitment and dedication that has been pivotal to the historic launch of MERSCOPE®, the first single-cell resolution, in-situ spatial transcriptomics platform on the market,” said Terry Lo, CEO of Vizgen.
“While I am frustrated by the necessity to reduce headcount forced on us by the ongoing litigation, I am determined to aggressively defend our position. I firmly believe that we will be vindicated by the legal process, and that 10x and Harvard will be ordered to cease their unlawful conduct, which has done serious harm not only to Vizgen but the field more generally. Responsible enforcement of IP is important to our industry but not to the point of weaponizing patent litigation through baseless claims. Vizgen has its own independently developed IP covering MERFISH, and we are confident that we will prevail against our competitor’s attempt to illegally monopolize the market. We will not leave our customers behind. We will continue to bring innovation that is synonymous with Vizgen to the market and support our customers in accelerating the advancement of science.”
To date, there are over two hundred peer-reviewed and preprint publications on MERFISH technology and thousands of samples have been processed on MERSCOPE instruments. During AGBT 2024, Vizgen announced 2024 product roadmap highlights including enhanced chemistry updates and the launch of the MERSCOPE 1000-plex Gene Panels.
On the litigation front, Vizgen was pleased to note that the United States Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) recently rejected 10x’s invalidity challenge to Vizgen’s U.S. Patent No. 11,098,303 (“the ’303 patent”), which is asserted against 10x in the Delaware litigation. That decision by the PTAB in IPR2023-01299, which is available here, refuses to permit any of 10x’s invalidity arguments to proceed against the ’303 patent.
About Vizgen®
Vizgen is dedicated to pioneering the next generation of genomics, providing tools that demonstrate the possibilities of in situ single-cell spatial genomics. The company has established the benchmark in spatial genomics and continues to drive industry innovation, delivering the highest sensitivity as well as excellent specificity and accuracy in cell segmentation. These tools enable researchers to gain new insight into the biological systems that govern human health and disease with spatial context. Vizgen’s MERSCOPE® Platform enables massively multiplexed, genome-scale nucleic acid imaging with high accuracy and unrivaled detection efficiency at subcellular resolution. MERSCOPE provides transformative insight into a wide range of tissue-scale basic research and translational medicine in oncology, immunology, neuroscience, infectious disease, developmental biology, cell and gene therapy, and is an essential tool for accelerating drug discovery and development. For more information, go to www.vizgen.com. Connect on social media Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
