NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Spanish clinical diagnostics firm Stat-Diagnostica said yesterday that it has closed a Series C financing round for €25 million ($28.5 million) to prepare for the 2017 launch of its DiagCore near-patient testing system.
The financing round was led by new investor Gilde Healthcare, with participation from existing investors including Kurma Partners, Ysios Capital, Idinvest Partners, Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund, Caixa Capital Risc, and Axis.
DiagCore is a fully integrated and automated molecular and immunoassay diagnostics system. It performs all sample prep steps on board for a wide range of sample types including whole blood, bronchoalveolar lavage, stool, and sputum; can perform up to 48-plex real-time PCR; and provides a result in between 30 and 80 minutes, depending on the assay type.
The Barcelona-based company said that it plans to target the platform at a range of decentralized testing environments, including critical care and emergency medicine units in hospitals. The company also expects the platform to have CLIA-waivable features that will allow it to be used in clinics and physician offices.
According to the company's website, its Stat-Molecular test cartridge will be designed to automate a wide range of molecular assays for infectious diseases, oncology, coagulation, prenatal testing, inherited diseases, or companion diagnostics; while its Stat-Immuno cartridge is designed to automate high-sensitivity immunoassays for critical care markers such as procalcitonin (sepsis), troponin (acute myocardial infarction), NGAL (acute kidney injury), C-reactive protein (inflammation), and hCG (pregnancy), among others.
"Stat-Diagnostica's DiagCore system can become the best-in-class platform for decentralized molecular testing, the most attractive growth area in molecular diagnostics today," Arthur Franken, a partner at Gilde Healthcare, said in a statement.
In 2013, the company closed a €17 million Series B financing round, which followed a €2 million Series A round in 2011.