BIOSENSIA COMPLETES A €2 MILLION FUNDING ROUND
Biosensia Limited (Biosensia), Cork, Ireland a leading developer of disposable microfluidic analytical "chips" for point of use diagnostics has raised €2 million in a recent equity funding round. The funding syndicate was led by new investor Seroba BioVentures (Seroba) who alongside existing investors, Atlantic Bridge Ventures (ABVEN), Street Capital and Enterprise Ireland is providing the funds for Biosensia’s expansion. Seroba is a leading Irish Venture Capital company specialising in the Life Science sector.
Biosensia has developed a hand-held point of use diagnostics instrument that allows a number of tests to be performed rapidly and simultaneously which will help clinicians make faster decisions. The company will initially target the drugs of abuse market. Drug driving is a major problem world wide with governments seeking a simple, easy to use instrument that can be used by police forces at the roadside. Biosensia will use this investment to complete the development of its drugs of abuse product and position the test for sales and marketing. In addition the funding will enable Biosensia to further develop the technology platform to address other opportunities in the fast growing Point of Care diagnostic market.
Alan O’Connell, Partner at Seroba said, "We are pleased to have led this investment in Biosensia particularly at this exciting time in the Point of Care diagnostics market. Not only does Biosensia’s product have advantages in drugs of abuse testing but we believe their platform technology has broad potential in the wider Point of Care sector."
Commenting on the fundraising, Gareth Redmond, Founder and Chief Scientist of Biosensia, said, "We are delighted to have Seroba as a new investor in Biosensia. We have a great product and this investment will allow us to take it to volume manufacture and expand into new markets. Seroba’s Life Science sector expertise will further strengthen our board in this direction."
Mark Horgan, of ABVEN added, "Biosensia’s disposable chip technology makes a complex assay simple, easy to use and highly scaleable. The company’s latest developments are outstanding and we are more than pleased to be following our original investment."
For further information about Biosensia, please contact:
Deirdre Barry
(Office Manager)
Tel: + 353 21 4905704
Email: deirdre.barry@biosensia.com
www.biosensia.com
Notes to Editors:
About Biosensia
Biosensia is a developer of integrated micro-system analytical chips and instrumentation for point-of-use diagnostics. The Company is funded by Atlantic Bridge Ventures, Street Capital and Enterprise Ireland and has global headquarters in Cork, Ireland with additional R&D teams in Maynooth, Ireland, Cranfield, England and Lund, Sweden.
The company is a leader in polymer replication and microsystem chip fabrication for low cost, high volume manufacture of disposable chips integrating bio-recognition elements including antibodies and molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) for sensing. The combination provides a compelling technology advantage for analytical chips.
Biosensia is exploiting this generic platform technology to provide unique products for point-of-use analytical applications in markets ranging from Drugs-of-Abuse Testing (DAT) through Food and Environment to Clinical, Medical and Security.
For further information please see www.biosensia.com
About Seroba
Seroba BioVentures is a life science venture capital management company. Seroba was established in 2001 to manage Ireland’s first dedicated life science venture capital fund and is now the leading life science investor in Ireland.
About Atlantic Bridge Ventures
Atlantic Bridge Ventures ("ABVEN") is a Pan European venture capital company with offices in Dublin and London. Atlantic Bridge focuses on making early and mid stage technology investments in semiconductors and software across Europe with a strong focus on a transatlantic business building and investment exit model.
For further information please see www.abven.com
Background to drugs of abuse market
There is a major growing problem in society with drugs of abuse driving particularly in Europe, the USA and Australia. Drug driving is now more prevalent in many areas than drink driving and it is believed that drugs of abuse are a contributing factor in up to 25% of fatal road accidents. Governments worldwide are aware of this problem and are introducing legislation for road side testing for impairment under the influence of drugs. It has been established that the best method of detection of drugs of abuse for roadside testing is via oral fluid as it is easier to collect than urine or blood.
Biosensia has combined its expertise in polymer micro-fluidics and micro-optics systems with the development of drugs of abuse antibodies and Molecular Imprinted Polymers (MIPs) to produce a prototype of a hand-held instrument which uses disposable polymer chips containing these bio-recognition elements to detect drugs of abuse to the ppb level in saliva.
Background to point of care diagnostics market
The adoption rate of point of care diagnostics is increasing and will significantly impact the traditional method by which clinical diagnostic tests are performed. In the US point of care product sales in 2005 were $1.3B and are projected to rise to $2.4B by 2012. In 2005, the major segments of the U.S. POCT market were cardiac biomarkers, glucose, infectious disease and blood, gas & electrolyte. The cardiac biomarkers POCT market and the infectious diseases POCT market are among the fastest growing segments.
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