Signatur Biosciences, a biotechnology company specialising in precision diagnostics, has reached a major milestone: the startup closed a £5m seed round, backed by equity investments and grants underway, bringing its total funding to £7m. This round, led by The Discovery Lab of IBA, alongside Noshaq and others, will fuel the development of the company’s first product, OncoSignatur Breast, and support company growth through the establishment of its own laboratory and the expansion of its team.
Today, most women with breast cancer undergo surgery followed by chemotherapy to lower their risk of relapse. But the reality is that more than half of these women don’t actually benefit from chemotherapy. Deciding whether to skip chemotherapy — and its devastating side effects — however, is an incredibly hard decision for patients and doctors alike.
Prognostic tests that predict the risk of relapse have transformed treatment decisions, helping to avoid unnecessary chemotherapy. Yet despite their potential, access remains a major barrier. Due to their technical complexity, such tests are typically performed in a single specialised laboratory in the United States. Priced at around £4k and requiring international sample shipment, they often entail turnaround times of up to three weeks — as a result, millions of women globally are left without access to timely, critical information.
Signatur Biosciences is changing the status quo with OncoSignatur Breast (OSB). OncoSignatur Breast (product under development) is a decentralised test kit that allows hospitals or clinical labs to run locally high-quality breast cancer prognostic testing, using standard qPCR machines already in place. This cost-effective test will deliver same-day results, and empowers hospitals to offer better care while keeping testing revenues in-house.
At the core of OSB is Signatur’s proprietary PCRchitectur technology, which condenses a traditionally complex and resource-intensive process into a single, streamlined qPCR reaction. Breast cancer is the first indication, with plans to expand into other disease areas. This innovation reduces material costs by up to 20-fold compared to conventional methods — making advanced molecular diagnostics faster, more affordable, and globally accessible.
This new funding will enable the company to build and validate OncoSignatur Breast, while providing the matching funds needed to unlock public grants supporting its development. It will also support the creation of a dedicated laboratory and the expansion of the team to accelerate R&D, operations, and commercialisation activities.
As part of its growth strategy, Signatur Biosciences is relocating its laboratory operations to Liège, Belgium — a move facilitated by Noshaq — to anchor its activities within a rapidly expanding European biotech ecosystem.
The team is incredibly proud of how far it has come — and even more excited for what’s ahead. A huge thank you to Signatur Biosciences investors, team members, and all the partners who share the vision of democratising access to life-saving diagnostics.
The future of precision medicine isn’t centralised. It’s local, fast, and accessible to all. And Signatur Biosciences is just getting started.
