NanoString Technologies, a maker of genomic analysis tools, has raised $20 million in venture capital financing in a deal led by GE, BioMed Ventures and former Genzyme CEO Henri Termeer. Existing investors Clarus Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson and OVP Venture Partners also participated.

The money will be used to grow the company’s life sciences tools business, and support the development of a new breast cancer assay product.

“The development and use of targeted cancer therapies requires understanding each patient’s tumor at a molecular level,” said Termeer, who spent 27 years at Genzyme. “NanoString’s technology provides an invaluable tool in cancer research and drug development, and has the potential to enable a globally scalable approach to personalized medicine.”

NanoString was founded in 2003 with technology from the Institute for Systems Biology. The company is led by Brad Gray, the former vice president of product and business development at Genzyme.

The Seattle company — whose tools are used by the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT — raised a $30 million round in 2009.

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