Singulex
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
Singulex was an Alameda, California-based immunodiagnostics company built around its Single Molecule Counting (SMC) technology, which could detect disease-associated biomarkers at previously undetectable levels. It offered cardiovascular diagnostic testing services (notably cardiac troponin I assays), research tools for pharma partners through its Erenna platform, and later the Sgx Clarity automated diagnostic system and a point-of-care platform.
02 / Singulex FAILURE REASONS
Failure reasons
Singulex's clinical laboratory business was undermined by legal trouble and a punishing reimbursement environment: it paid $1.5 million in 2015 to settle Justice Department allegations of paying kickbacks to physicians for patient referrals, and $1.25 million in 2018 to settle claims it billed Medicare and TRICARE for medically unnecessary tests. Two IPO attempts (an $86 million filing in 2012, a scaled-back $70 million offering in 2013) were pulled, leaving the company dependent on debt financing.
03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Product or service closed
Singulex closed the recorded product or service.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN
How the factors connect
- 01
Singulex raised venture and debt financing including $19 million in 2009, $55 million in debt and equity in 2013, and a $50 million senior secured debt facility from Perceptive Advisors in 2021.
- 02
Its IPO attempts were pulled in 2012 and 2013; it settled two Justice Department cases for $1.5 million (2015) and $1.25 million (2018) over kickback and unnecessary-testing allegations.
- 03
No reliable failure-period loss figure with subject/period/basis was disclosed; the only reported losses date to 2012 interim filings.