Cancer Start-Up GRAIL Added One of Silicon Valley’s Best-Known Biotech VCs to Its Board

Grail, a company working to develop “liquid biopsies” for spotting cancer in the earliest stages, recently announced that it has added venture capitalist Brook Byers to its board of directors, according to an SEC filing.

The filing also showed that Grail has raised a total of $973 million in its current Series B funding round. The company is now just shy of its goal to raise over $1 billion in this round of investment. Grail plans to use the capital for research and development, as well as for large-scale clinical trials to prove the sensitivity and accuracy of its technology.

Byer is a co-founder of venture firm Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers, has invested in companies such as Foundation Medicine, Pacific Biosciences, and Electronic arts. However, Byer is no longer an active partner at Kleiner Perkins.

Grail, a McKesson Ventures portfolio company, is led by former Google executive Jeff Huber.

Ken Drazan, Grail’s chief business officer, confirmed that Byers joined the board on his own and not on behalf of Kleiner Perkins. He also said that the company has not yet closed its current funding round.

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