Clear Labs, Inc. is a private genomics testing company headquartered in San Carlos, California, United States. It offers a fully automated, next-generation sequencing (NGS) platform for turnkey diagnostics, including SARS-CoV-2 genomic characterization and detection of foodborne pathogens such as listeria and salmonella.[1] It can also verify a food's ingredients, its GMO status, or conduct other tests.[2]
Clear Labs was co-founded by Sasan Amini in 2014,[3] who left his job at a genomics company to start Clear Labs.[4] The company acquired $6.5 million in series A financing in September 2015.[3] In December 2016, the company closed a $16 million Series B funding round.[5] This was followed by another $21 million round in October 2018.[6]
Clear Labs was granted an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the US FDA in September 2020 for its SARS-CoV-2 descriptive diagnostic test.[7] Clear Labs launched in January 2021 a groundbreaking solution for whole genome sequencing surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 and its mutations.[8] Clear Labs announced in March 2021 that the company had reached a critical milestone of over 50% public health laboratory penetration with its whole genome sequencing SARS-CoV-2 product,[9][10] including laboratories such as Nebraska,[11][12][13] Nevada,[14][15] New York,[16] California[17] and Kansas,[18] among others. Clear Labs Raised a $60M Series C round led by Morgan Stanley and T. Rowe Price in May 2021.[19]
Clear Labs has also received governmental and professional certification for its food safety next generation sequencing platform, including from the International AOAC[20] in December 2019 and the National Poultry Improvement Plan in October 2021.[21]