Claryx has emerged from stealth with $3.5 million in pre-seed funding to expand its genomic surveillance platform for detecting hospital-acquired infection outbreaks. The round was led by Outlander VC, with participation from Company Ventures, Boost VC, Neon, Mana Ventures, 640 Oxford and Precursor.
Founded by brothers Kurt and Dirk Hackenberger, Claryx is developing technology designed to identify infection transmission while it is occurring, show hospital infection prevention teams where to intervene and confirm whether those interventions stopped the outbreak.
The company’s CloneLink platform sequences the genomes of pathogens from confirmed patient infections and analyzes whether apparently separate cases are linked.
Claryx also creates a digital twin of the hospital environment using samples from air, water and surfaces. The system can compare patient infections with environmental reservoirs to identify potential sources, including contaminated equipment or areas within a building.
The company said proprietary chemistry developed by co-founder Dirk Hackenberger reduced the cost of a key sequencing step by more than 20 times, potentially making continuous genomic surveillance more practical for hospitals.
Claryx cited a two-year study at UPMC Presbyterian in which researchers used real-time genomic surveillance to identify 172 otherwise undetected outbreaks involving 476 patients.
According to the company, 96% of outbreaks that were traced and addressed did not spread further. Researchers estimated that the program prevented 62 infections and nearly five deaths while producing a 3.2-times return on its cost.
Kurt Hackenberger previously worked as an investor at The Carlyle Group, where he led diligence on more than 350 companies and participated in investments totaling over $3 billion.
Dirk Hackenberger earned a doctorate focused on infectious disease genomics and antimicrobial resistance. Claryx is currently active across multiple health systems and has assembled a scientific advisory board with experts affiliated with Mayo Clinic, Harvard, Yale, Weill Cornell, Washington University, UCLA and McMaster University.
KEY QUOTES:
“We believe preventable infections are a solvable problem. Today we can tell a hospital where an infection came from. We’re building toward a future where it never had to happen in the first place.”
Kurt Hackenberger, Co-Founder and CEO of Claryx
“Every building people share is a transmission system running invisibly, and Claryx has made it possible to finally see it.”
AJ Smith, Partner at Outlander VC
