What Tracer Biotechnologies does

Tracer Biotechnologies is a New York-headquartered biotechnology company developing ultrasensitive circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) monitoring solutions for oncology. The company's unified platform combines plasma whole-genome sequencing (WGS) at 30x-300x coverage with proprietary AI-powered signal extraction to detect minimal residual disease (MRD) at single-part-per-million Tumor Fraction sensitivity, alongside tumor-informed digital PCR (dPCR) panels designed from patient tumor VCFs or hotspot lists. The software is vendor-agnostic and plug-and-play, integrating with Illumina NovaSeq, Ultima, and MGI sequencers as well as commercial dPCR systems, and supports cloud, on-premise, or CLIA-certified partner-lab deployment with turnarounds under 48 hours for in-house WGS MRD and under 24 hours for in-house dPCR MRD.

Tracer monetizes through two core product lines: WGS MRD testing priced at $1,000-$3,000 per timepoint and tumor-informed dPCR MRD testing on a fixed-price-per-patient basis with unlimited timepoints. Commercial reach is built on a decentralized model that combines direct enterprise sales to hospitals and cancer centers, a Tracer RUO central lab for exploratory pharma studies, and a CLIA-certified partner laboratory network. The company targets three primary segments — hospitals and cancer centers, biopharmaceutical companies, and contract research organizations — and has publicly named AstraZeneca as a multi-year clinical trial partner using Tracer's ctDNA monitoring technology, with an additional co-development agreement with QIAGEN. Founded in 2021 and operating with 11-50 employees, Tracer closed a $10 million Series A financing led by GKCC in December 2024 and is co-founded by Mark Kaganovich (CEO; ex-SolveBio) and Gopal Ramachandran (CSO; ex-Wellframe).

Name

Tracer Biotechnologies

Legal name

Tracer Biotechnologies

Website

https://tracerbio.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Tracer Biotechnologies is a New York-based biotechnology company providing ultrasensitive ctDNA-based minimal residual disease monitoring for oncology, serving hospitals, cancer centers, CROs, and biopharmaceutical companies through a vendor-agnostic WGS and dPCR platform with AI-powered signal extraction.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Molecular Diagnostics

NAICS

In-Vitro Diagnostic Substance Manufacturing (325413), Medical Laboratories (621511)

SIC

In Vitro & In Vivo Diagnostic Substances (2835), Services-Medical Laboratories (8071)

akta.pro primary industry

Liquid Biopsy & Minimal Residual Disease (MRD) Precision Testing (HLAAANAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Molecular Diagnostics (PCR/qPCR, NGS-based assays) (HLAAALAA), Multiplex & High-Throughput Diagnostics Platforms (microarrays, digital PCR, lab automation-enabled assays) (HLAAALAL), Clinical Biomarker Testing Services (central labs, trial enrollment/monitoring assays) (HLAAAMAC)

Keywords

• CtDNA monitoring
• Minimal residual disease testing
• Liquid biopsy diagnostics
• Cancer recurrence detection
• Molecular response surveillance

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. WGS MRD Testing: Plasma whole-genome sequencing service with 30x-300x coverage for tumor-naïve MRD detection. Priced at $1,000-$3,000 per time point with <48h in-house or <7 days via partner labs turnaround.
2. dPCR MRD Testing: Patient-specific digital PCR panels for tumor-informed ctDNA detection at 1 ppm sensitivity. Fixed price per patient with unlimited time points, enabling cost-effective longitudinal monitoring.
3. Clinical Trial Services: ctDNA monitoring technology provided to biopharma partners for clinical trial drug development, including AstraZeneca partnership for multi-year projects.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Tracer Biotechnologies is a biotechnology company that has developed a proprietary, vendor-agnostic platform for ultrasensitive circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) detection and Minimal Residual Disease (MRD) testing. The platform combines plasma whole-genome sequencing (30x-300x coverage) and digital PCR (dPCR) workflows with AI-powered signal extraction to deliver tissue-free, decentralized cancer monitoring. It is offered to hospitals, CROs, and biopharma companies either as in-house testing on existing NGS or dPCR instruments, or through Tracer's CLIA-certified partner lab network.

Product overview

Tracer Biotechnologies offers a unified platform with two distinct MRD testing modalities: WGS MRD (whole-genome sequencing-based) and dPCR MRD (digital PCR-based). The platform is hardware-agnostic, supporting integration with major sequencers (NovaSeq, Ultima, MGI) and dPCR systems. Both products feed into the same Tracer portal, enabling flexible deployment models (in-house, central lab, or CLIA partner labs) for liquid biopsy-based cancer monitoring.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• WGS MRD

Quantifiable outcome

• 1 ppm tumor-naïve sensitivity (WGS MRD)
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

AI capability2 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• AstraZenecacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 12 December 2024Multi-year agreement enabling AstraZeneca to use Tracer's circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) monitoring technology for clinical trials. The partnership leverages Tracer's tumor-informed dPCR platform for cost-effective, precise, and scalable ctDNA testing as an alternative to radiographic imaging for treatment response monitoring and MRD detection.
• QIAGENcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-development agreement between Tracer Biotechnologies and QIAGEN mentioned in market analysis of molecular diagnostics sector activity. Nature of partnership involves next-generation cancer monitoring technology development.
• CLIA-Certified Partner LabscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNetwork of CLIA-certified laboratory partners enabling centralized sample processing for clinical testing when customers prefer not to run tests in-house. Supports <7 day turnaround for WGS MRD and <4 days for dPCR MRD.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Tempus AI: Tempus is a large AI-enabled precision medicine company offering genomic profiling, liquid biopsy, and biopharma services; it overlaps with Tracer's biopharma clinical trial ctDNA work but operates a much broader data and services portfolio.
• Exact Sciences: Exact Sciences (with its Thrive Earlier Detection lineage and Cologuard franchise) is expanding into MRD and multi-cancer detection via its own acquisitions and pipeline, providing broad-incumbent competition for Tracer's hospital and biopharma oncology footprint.

Direct peers

• C2i Genomics: C2i Genomics offers a cloud-based, AI-powered MRD analytics platform using whole-genome sequencing data and partners with CROs/pharma for clinical trials, putting it in direct competition with Tracer's decentralized WGS MRD platform and software-centric model.
• Guardant Health: Guardant Health is a leading liquid biopsy company whose Guardant360, Guardant Reveal (tumor-informed MRD), and Guardant Infinity products directly compete with Tracer's ctDNA MRD offerings across biopharma clinical trials and hospital oncology workflows.
• Natera: Natera's Signatera is a tumor-informed ctDNA MRD test widely used in oncology clinical trials and recurrence monitoring, making it Tracer's most direct head-to-head competitor in tumor-informed MRD for biopharma and academic centers.
• Foundation Medicine: Foundation Medicine (a Roche subsidiary) offers comprehensive genomic profiling and ctDNA-based assays used across biopharma oncology drug development; it overlaps with Tracer's biopharma services for clinical trial patient stratification and molecular response monitoring.
• Personalis: Personalis markets NeXT Personal, a tumor-informed whole-genome sequencing-based MRD test, directly competing with Tracer's WGS MRD in pharma trials and clinical use cases where deep longitudinal monitoring is required.
• NeoGenomics: NeoGenomics (which acquired Inivata) offers RaDaR, a tumor-informed dPCR-based MRD assay, and Invision-Lung — competing head-to-head with Tracer's tumor-informed dPCR MRD for pharma longitudinal monitoring and hospital oncology.

Emerging players

• Foresight Diagnostics: Foresight Diagnostics is an early-to-growth-stage liquid biopsy company developing ultrasensitive ctDNA assays (including Foresight-Cancer) for MRD and treatment response, sharing Tracer's focus on single-ppm sensitivity and pharma trial applications.

Others

• QIAGEN: QIAGEN is a strategic co-development partner but also a major supplier of sample-prep and molecular diagnostic reagents used in NGS and dPCR workflows; it competes indirectly in oncology sample processing and could enable or substitute for Tracer's wet-lab steps.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/tracer-biotechnologies

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors7 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Tracer Biotechnologies