NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Infectious disease diagnostics firm DNAe today announced a bank facility of £25 million ($38.7 million) from Citibank, to fund the development of its point-of-care diagnostics for septic infections. The firm said it expects to conduct clinical trials in 2016 and launch its product in 2017. The funds will help DNAe finish its attempt to integrate its Genalysis DNA sequencing technology with its subsidiary DNA Electronics' Pathogen Capture System to create a blood test for serious infections that provides results in two to three hours, the firm said in a statement.
In January, DNAe raised $24 million to acquire Albuquerque, New Mexico-based DNA Electronics, then known as nanoMR. DNAe's sequencing technology is the core of Thermo Fisher Scientific's Ion Torrent next-generation sequencing system.
"The development of our serious bloodstream infections test is progressing well," DNAe Executive Chairman Chris Toumazou said in a statement. "[W]e are in a great position to achieve our objective to launch our in vitro diagnostic system in 2017." He added that the company's technology "has the potential to revolutionize how patients with these life-threatening infections are treated and the bank facility demonstrates the confidence of the bank and of our shareholders in DNAe's technology, team, and strategy to achieve this."