Firefly Awarded Matching Grant

Waltham, MA – The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center recently awarded a $500,000 Small
Business Matching Grant to Firefly BioWorks of Cambridge. The grant will match federal small business grant funding that the company has been awarded previously.
Firefly BioWorks, Inc. is introducing a high performance universal technology platform for multiplexed biomarker detection, with applications in life sciences research and diagnostics. The company’s platform enables detection of clinically relevant biomolecules with an unprecedented combination of performance, throughput and cost. Firefly products are instrument-independent: assays can be performed on standard laboratory equipment. The company’s first product was just launched and is designed to detect microRNAs, an emerging class of biomarkers that has shown great promise in the diagnosis of cancer, neurological disorders, and many other diseases.
This grant represents the third round of awards issued under the Center’s Small Business Matching Grant Program, established by the Life Sciences Act of 2008. Eight companies have now received a total of $4 million in grants since the Center’s first round of awards in May of 2010.
The Center’s Small Business Matching Grant Program, launched in January 2010 as part of the state’s 10-year, $1 billion Life Sciences Initiative, leverages federal small business grant funding that early-stage life sciences companies in the Commonwealth have received for their work in life sciences research and development, commercialization and manufacturing. Goals of the Center’s program include the creation of jobs in Massachusetts through the commercialization of products with high potential for market adoption and penetration.
“We are leading the world in the life sciences industry because of our growth strategy of
investing in education, innovation and infrastructure,” said Governor Deval Patrick. “As we
continue to strengthen our global leadership in the life sciences, I am especially proud that we
are helping our small businesses grow and create jobs.”