NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Belgian molecular diagnostics firm Biocartis announced it has received a €2.5 million ($2.7 million) grant from the Flemish Agency for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (IWT) to expand its manufacturing capacity.
The award comes under the agency's Strategic Transformation Support program and will be used to support manufacturing of the firm's PCR-based Idylla diagnostic platform and assays. Funds will also be used to support training and education for workers at its Mechelen, Belgium facility.
"The STS program supports projects that make a significant contribution to the strengthening of the economic development in Flanders," Philippe Muyters, Flemish Minister of Work, Economy, Innovation, and Sports, said in a statement. "The manufacturing expansion project that is ongoing at Biocartis is an excellent example of this. We as government are pleased to be in the position to further stimulate smart and disruptive innovation in Flanders, as showcased by Biocartis."
The grant is the latest in a string of financings for Biocartis over the past year and a half. In April 2015, the firm raised €115 million in an initial public offering, and in October of that year landed a €1.5 million grant from IWT to develop KRAS and BRAF tests for the Idylla platform. In June of this year, the firm took out €55 million in loans to expand manufacturing, among other uses.