SAN CARLOS, CA, Verinata Health, Inc., a privately-held company dedicated to maternal and fetal health, today announced that it has raised approximately $46.5 million in the finalization of its Series C financing with the remaining $2.0 million expected to close on August 31, 2011.

The funding was led by existing investors Mohr Davidow Ventures, Sutter Hill Ventures, and Alloy Ventures. Verinata plans to use the proceeds to fund continued research and development and subsequent commercialization of its non-invasive prenatal diagnostic test.

"This substantial financing demonstrates our investors' confidence in Verinata's ability to meet or exceed corporate and product milestones as we proceed rapidly on the path to commercialization of our first diagnostic test," said Caren L. Mason, chief executive officer of Verinata Health. "We look forward to completing our validation study later this calendar year, as we prepare for a successful launch of our non-invasive prenatal diagnostic in the first quarter of 2012."

Verinata Health, Inc.

Verinata is driven by a sole, extraordinary purpose - maternal and fetal health. Our initial focus is to develop and offer non-invasive tests for early identification of fetal chromosomal abnormalities using our proprietary technologies. We aim to reduce the anxiety associated with today's multi-step process, the unacceptable false-positive rates, the non-specific and sometimes confusing results of current prenatal screening methods, as well as the risk of current invasive procedures. In support of national guidelines recommending first trimester aneuploidy risk assessment, we believe women who desire such an assessment should be offered a single blood draw test with a definitive result. Verinata is conducting a prospective, blinded pivotal study to clinically validate the sensitivity and specificity of its first prenatal test on a large scale with results of the study expected in 2011. For more information about Verinata, please go to www.verinata.com.