Business Weekly - Cambridge, UK

The investment is part of a further $4.25 million raised as a second closing of the September 2004 financing round.

Prelude and its co-investors Burrill & Co and BASF Venture Capital GmbH have been joined by new investor Bioventures Inc. Prelude now owns 23.5 per cent of the issued share capital of Sciona.

Sciona develops DNA screens for common gene variants that affect an individual’s response to food, medications and the environment.

It is completing a headquarters relocation to Boulder, Colorado, having initially switched its HQ from the UK to Connecticut last year.

The company’s genetic screens serve as the basis for providing personalised, science-based health and lifestyle advice to consumers and can help companies customise personal care and nutrition products.

Sciona’s field of genetic personalisation is a rapidly growing discipline aimed at optimal health by creating products and services tailored to an individual’s genetic makeup.

Sciona’s CellfTM genetic screen gives consumers nutritional guidelines – based on individual genetic profiles – to empower individuals to make better health decisions specific to their individual genetic makeup.

Sciona also provides research capabilities for large food, nutritional supplement and functional food companies interested in analysing particular product ingredients as they relate to the normal genetic variations found in healthy individuals.

Rob James, a director of Sciona and Prelude Ventures said the company had changed dramatically since its last investment round. The business had relocated to Colorado from Connecticut to exploit a flourishing biotech industry, he said.

James added: “The potential of enhancing an individual’s ‘wellness’ by linking information on diet and lifestyle with DNA and harmonising the two is a topic attracting a lot of interest. Sciona is well placed to take advantage of the emergence of this new and exciting market.”