Crescendo tries to convince insurers to pay for its rheumatoid arthritis test

If you have rheumatoid arthritis, the course of your treatment can be determined this way: The doctor looks at, squeezes and evaluates 28 joints for swelling or tenderness then plugs that information into a formula that spits out a score. So-called DAS28 tests are less than perfect, as you might guess. What's more, they are largely subjective and time consuming. It is difficult to figure out when to increase or discontinue a patient's use of the Genentech-developed RA drug Rituxan, for example, or to switch to another drug. DAS28 tests are used more for clinical trials than in clinical practice, but the leaders of Crescendo Biosciences Inc. are sure there's a better way for RA patients, physicians and the health-care system.

Crescendo Bioscience raises $56M, gives buyout option to Myriad

Myriad Genetics Inc. will invest $25 million in Crescendo Bioscience — with an option to buy the South San Francisco molecular diagnostics company — as Crescendo raises an additional $31 million in a Series C round.
The investment by Salt Lake City-based Myriad is structured as long-term debt and is nondilutive to current stockholders, Crescendo said in a press release Thursday. Myriad, best known for its monopoly on a genetic test for breast cancer risk, has a three-year option to buy Crescendo for cash at a predetermined multiple of revenue. That price is based on the growth rate of Crescendo when the option is exercised.