Biocartis closes Series C financing round
Biocartis is reporting that it has completed a EUR 71 million ($100 million) Series C equity fund raising, which they indicate represents one of the largest life science fundraisings events this year. Participating in the round were Debiopharm Group, Philips, Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation (JJDC), the Wellcome Trust, Korys, Valiance, Biovest, the family office of Dr Paul Janssen, IHL SA (Luc Verelst), PMV, New Rhein Healthcare, certain members of the Biocartis senior management team and the family office of founder Rudi Pauwels (Benaruca).
Biocartis’ first system, codenamed Apollo, is a compact, scalable, core system that allows multiple assays to be performed anywhere and without the need for a specialist laboratory environment and trained technicians. The company expects the system to be launched in 2013 and is using a collaborative business model to help drive the build-up of the shared installed base of the Apollo system once launched. Biocartis’ key collaborators include bioMerieux and Janssen Pharmaceutica (J&J). Biocartis’ aim is to rapidly create a widely adopted platform that is accessible to both the company and other developers of new MDx assays.
SuperNova collaborates with Concile
SuperNova Diagnostics says that it has formed a commercial partnership with Concile, GmbH, a European specialist healthcare distributor, for a point-of-care test for use in the assessment of various deficiencies relating to wellness and chronic diseases. SuperNova will develop and manufacture the test product, secure regulatory approvals and co-promote the product in the European market. In return it will receive upfront payments, milestone development payments and will revenue-share on all sales in the European Union. SuperNova will retain 100 percent of marketing rights outside of the EU and has the ability to sub-license or sell directly.
FDA approves first supplemental test for Chagas Disease
The FDA has approved the Abbott ESA Chagas [Trypanosoma cruzi (E. coli, Recombinant) Antigen]- the first test for use as an additional, more specific test on human serum or plasma specimens found to be positive for antibodies to Trypanosoma cruzi. T. cruzi causes Chagas disease, a serious and potentially fatal parasitic infection. The test is an in vitro enzyme strip assay for the qualitative detection of antibodies to T. cruzi. There are currently two donor screening tests licensed to detect antibodies to T. cruzi; however, this will be the first test licensed as a supplemental test, the FDA reports.
Quest Diagnostics CE Marks CMV test
Quest Diagnostics has announced that its Focus Diagnostics business has CE marked a new Simplexa Cytomegalovirus molecular test kit on the 3M Integrated Cycler for distribution to approximately 35 countries in Europe. The test employs real-time polymerase chain reaction to quantitatively detect CMV in whole blood specimens and plasma. -Peter Winter