What Trace Biosciences does

Trace Biosciences is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing nerve-specific near-infrared fluorescent imaging agents that enable real-time visualization of peripheral nerves during surgery. Its technology platform, branded NerveTrace, comprises small-molecule fluorophores that selectively bind peripheral nerves and emit fluorescence in the NIR window (650–900 nm), allowing surgeons to see nerves even when buried beneath tissue and blood. The platform has been built from a proprietary library of 400+ candidates refined over more than a decade of research originating at Oregon Health & Science University, and is compatible with existing fluorescence-guided surgical imaging systems from Intuitive Surgical, Olympus, and Zeiss. The lead candidate, NerveTrace Dx (LGW16-03), received FDA IND clearance in February 2026, with Phase I clinical studies planned to initiate in orthopedic surgery and subsequently expand across urology, colorectal, head and neck, neurosurgery, and reconstructive procedures where nerve injury risk ranges from 14% to 85%.

The company is pre-revenue and operates an enterprise direct-sales GTM motion targeting hospitals and surgical centers post-FDA approval. To date, the agents have been validated in over 50 collaborative studies with clinical and industry partners, and the technology underpins a $31.3M ARPA-H Cancer Moonshot program focused on 3D dual-color mapping of nerves and vasculature. Beyond the lead asset, the pipeline includes NerveTrace Total (extended pharmacokinetics for PNS/CNS applications) and NerveTrace 800 (an indocyanine green-compatible formulation), positioning NerveTrace as a platform that can both feed and leverage AI-driven anatomical mapping systems.

Trace Biosciences is headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, was founded in 2020 by OHSU scientists Connor Barth, PhD (CEO), Summer Gibbs, PhD (CSO), and Lei Wang, PhD (CTO), and has raised more than $9 million across pre-seed and grant funding from ARPA-H, NIH (NCI, NINDS), NSF, Oregon State Treasury, ONAMI, Elevate Capital, and SciFounders. The team of approximately 15 members includes senior leadership with 25–30+ years of experience in CMC, toxicology, and clinical operations, several of whom have contributed to six or more FDA approvals.

Name

Trace Biosciences

Legal name

Trace Biosciences

Website

https://trace-bio.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Surgical Imaging Agents

NAICS

Surgical and Medical Instrument Manufacturing (339112), Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (54171)

SIC

Surgical & Medical Instruments & Apparatus (3841)

akta.pro primary industry

Intraoperative Imaging & Guidance (C-arms, O-arm, IOUS, fluorescence) (HLAHADAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Surgical Navigation, Tracking & Intraoperative Guidance (Ortho/Neuro/ENT) (HLAHADAG), Surgical Navigation, Robotics & Patient-Matched Instrumentation (Ortho/Spine) (HLAHAEAL), Surgical, Perioperative & ERAS Pathway Tools (HLACAGAJ)

Keywords

• Nerve-specific imaging agents
• Fluorescence-guided surgery
• Near-infrared fluorophores
• Intraoperative nerve visualization
• Surgical imaging diagnostics

Headquarters

HQ city

Beaverton

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Nerve Trace Imaging Agents: Pre-revenue clinical stage. The company is developing nerve-specific fluorescent imaging agents for surgical applications. Revenue will be generated through sale of imaging agents to hospitals and surgical centers following FDA approval.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Trace Biosciences develops and is preparing to commercialize nerve-specific near-infrared fluorescent imaging agents that surgeons administer intraoperatively to visualize peripheral nerves in real time during surgery. The company's pipeline — anchored by the IND-cleared NerveTrace Dx (LGW16-03), plus NerveTrace Total and NerveTrace 800 — enables fluorescence-guided surgery using existing clinical imaging systems, and provides ground-truth data to power AI-guided anatomical navigation. The company is pre-revenue and clinical-stage, with Phase I trials planned in orthopedic surgery and expansion planned across urologic, colorectal, head & neck, and neurosurgical indications.

Product overview

Trace Biosciences offers the Nerve Trace technology platform, a unified portfolio of nerve-specific near-infrared fluorescent imaging agents for fluorescence-guided surgery. The platform includes three distinct clinical-stage products: NerveTrace Dx (IND approved, for rapid nerve damage assessment in orthopedic/reconstructive/head & neck surgery), NerveTrace Total (high contrast agent for PNS/CNS with extended PK for prostatectomy/brain & spine surgery), and NerveTrace 800 (ICG-compatible agent for colorectal/prostatectomy/hysterectomy). All products are small-molecule fluorophores that selectively bind nerves and emit near-infrared fluorescence, enabling real-time intraoperative nerve visualization across clinical imaging systems. The platform has emerged from 400+ candidate compounds tested in multi-species surgical models.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• NerveTrace: Targeted imaging platform technology that enables real-time visualization of nerves during surgery using near-infrared fluorescent imaging agents.
• NerveTrace Dx
• NerveTrace Total
• NerveTrace 800

Products and services

• NerveTrace Dx (LGW16-03) A nerve-specific near-infrared fluorescent imaging agent (LGW16-03) that selectively binds peripheral nerves and emits fluorescence enabling rapid nerve damage assessment. IND-cleared for first-in-human clinical studies, with initial Phase I/II trials planned in orthopedic, reconstructive, and head & neck surgery.
• NerveTrace Total A nerve-specific imaging agent providing high contrast in both peripheral nervous system (PNS) and central nervous system (CNS) tissues with extended pharmacokinetics, designed for prostatectomy, brain & skull base, and spine surgical procedures.
• NerveTrace 800 A nerve-specific imaging agent designed for compatibility with clinical imaging systems that use indocyanine green (ICG), targeted for colorectal surgery, prostatectomy, and hysterectomy procedures.

Quantifiable outcome

• 25M nerve injuries occur worldwide annually with 108M patients at risk
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

AI capability8 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Dartmouth HealthcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerClinical trial partner for nerve imaging agent studies. Dartmouth is participating in the ARPA-H program for precision tumor removal using Trace's imaging technology.
• Industry & Clinical PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTrace Biosciences has partnered with top industry and clinical institutions worldwide. To date, agents have been validated in over 50 collaborative studies across all surgical specialties including orthopedic, urology, colorectal, and plastic surgery.
• OHSU (Oregon Health & Science University)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOrigin of Trace Biosciences technology through co-founders Summer Gibbs and Connor Barth's academic research. Deep academic-industry partnership for clinical translation of nerve imaging technology.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Stryker: Global medical device leader with the SPY/Novadaq fluorescence-guided surgery platform. Comparable because Stryker is the dominant player in intraoperative fluorescence imaging and could either integrate or compete with Trace's nerve-specific agents.
• Carl Zeiss Meditec: Provider of surgical microscopy and fluorescence imaging systems used in operating rooms. Comparable as one of Trace's named integration partners and a broad incumbent in intraoperative optical imaging.
• Intuitive Surgical: Maker of the da Vinci surgical robot with integrated Firefly ICG fluorescence imaging. Comparable as both a hardware platform compatible with Trace's NerveTrace agents and a potential entrant into targeted nerve imaging.
• Olympus Medical: Endoscopy and surgical imaging systems provider whose fluorescence imaging platforms are compatible with Trace's agents. Comparable as both an integration partner and an established OR imaging incumbent.

Others

• PerkinElmer: Large life sciences and diagnostics tools provider offering fluorescent reagents and imaging consumables. Comparable as an adjacent enabling vendor in the fluorescent imaging ecosystem rather than a direct surgical agent competitor.

Direct peers

• Lumiprobe: Manufacturer of fluorescent dyes and probes, including NIR and reactive fluorophores used in biomedical imaging. Comparable as a supplier/peer of small-molecule fluorescent agents that could be repurposed or compete in research-grade surgical imaging.
• Avelas Biosciences: Clinical-stage developer of fluorescent imaging agents designed to light up cancer and critical anatomy during surgery. Comparable because Avelas is pursuing a similar playbook of tissue-targeted fluorescent agents for real-time surgical guidance.
• Curadel (Fluopticon): Developer of targeted NIR fluorescent imaging agents for surgical and oncology applications. Comparable because Curadel is among the closest direct competitors developing disease/tissue-targeted fluorescent probes for intraoperative use.
• LI-COR Biosciences: Developer of NIR fluorescent dyes and IRDye reagents used across life science and preclinical imaging. Comparable as a peer with deep NIR fluorophore chemistry expertise relevant to nerve-targeted agents.
• Molecular Targeting Technologies (MTTI): Developer of targeted fluorescent imaging agents and radiopharmaceuticals for surgical and diagnostic use. Comparable as a small-cap peer developing indication-specific fluorescent imaging agents.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/trace-biosciences

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds9 records

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 Trace Biosciences