Biotech firm MARAbio has raised $19 million in a Series A funding round to accelerate the launch of its blood test for detecting maternal autoantibody-related (MAR) autism.
The Salt Lake City, Utah-based biotech company plans to use the funds to bring its proprietary blood testing technology to market. MAR autism is linked to specific patterns of autoantibodies in mothers and is present in an estimated 20% of those with an autism diagnosis.
The round was led by investment management firm MAK Capital One and is open to new investors through the end of 2024. The company is seeking an additional $9.9 million, according to publicly available documents.
MARAbio plans to make its blood test available to providers, including ABA providers, OBGYNs, pediatricians and telehealth providers, in 2025, according to Michael Paul, CEO of MARAbio.
“We can help identify with a high degree of accuracy the likelihood that the child will have autism based on the blood test from the mom at various stages,” Paul told Autism Business News. “There’s a valuable opportunity for, to give a specific example, a developmental pediatrician, or say, an ABA clinic, who is evaluating a child who might have symptoms but has yet to have a clinical diagnosis of autism to be able to take the blood sample from the mom.”
MARAbio still needs to complete and validate clinical testing before launching the test commercially.
The blood test, which is between 95% and 97% accurate according to the company, analyzes a sample from the mother, never the child. MARAbio seeks to use the technology to aid early diagnosis and interventions.
MARAbio’s blood test can be administered even before children show any signs of autism, providing opportunities for children to receive earlier interventions. Traditionally, autism diagnoses are based on behavioral assessments, and most children are not diagnosed until after they turn 4.
“What I have found particularly important about this is that … [the test] can short circuit this long diagnostic odyssey that these families go through,” Paul said. “You can have the information at the earliest potential time point so that you and your child can have the best possible outcomes.”
Early autism diagnoses are crucial to improving outcomes, and can also lead to significant cost savings for government health plans.
The funds will also be used to develop a platform that aids in the diagnosis of autism and the development of therapeutic interventions for children diagnosed with MAR autism.
MARAbio plans to start developing these interventions within two to five years, Paul said. One possible intervention includes an antibody treatment called intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG). Another, which Paul said is the “most exciting,” is an emerging biological class of drugs called FcRn antagonists, which could block the transmission of MAR autism antibodies from the parent to the child.
“This is a precision immunology platform [designed] to not just test the mothers for the presence of the antibodies, which would lead to earlier, more effective intervention for their children, but ultimately [provide] therapeutic interventions for the mom to potentially prevent MAR autism in the future,” Paul said.
