New Investors Fund Expansion of Cavidi AB Funding to Lead to Improved HIV Management in Developing World
UPPSALA, Sweden, November 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Cavidi AB announced today that it has signed an agreement with a consortium of American and Swedish investors. The consortium has provided over US$1.0 million of operational funding, and has committed to raising additional funding as necessary. The capital will be used to drive forward Cavidi's newly adopted three-year business plan. Cavidi is the producer of ExaVir(TM) Load, an HIV viral load assay suited for resource-limited settings.
Viral load monitoring is essential for the proper management of HIV-infected patients being treated with antiretroviral drugs (ARVs). The test helps doctors use ARVs more effectively, extending a patient's length and quality of life, limiting the development of viral resistance and minimizing waste of medication.
The key members of the investment consortium include several American investors experienced in venture capital markets as well as senior Cavidi management. The three-year plan they are funding seeks to generate more than a five-fold growth in revenue. It will capitalize on the recent release of Cavidi's ExaVir Load Version 3 - a new and improved version of their HIV viral load assay. It is also part of the plan to appoint additional distributors in Asia. Further investment will be required in both working capital and equipment in order to undertake a major expansion in production capacity.
The consortium will appoint a new member to Cavidi's Board of Directors. They have also committed to raising additional capital over the life of the three-year plan as needed.
"This is an important step forward for Cavidi," said Martyn Eales, the company's CEO. "It gives us additional resources to fully promote the new version of ExaVir Load." Cavidi is also on the verge of finalizing agreements with major international non-government organizations, as well as new distributors in Africa and Asia. This will ensure their ability to capitalize on the the growing acceptance of leading HIV clinicians worldwide of viral load monitoring as an essential part of effective HIV management. "The easy-to-use, affordable and accurate HIV viral load monitoring that ExaVir Load provides is especially needed in resource-limited environments," said Eales. "It permits the optimal use of what is invariably a limited supply of ARVs."
He went on to say Cavidi expects a rapid increase in sales of ExaVir Load assay kits due to these new testing strategies as they incorporate viral load monitoring as an essential part of HIV management wherever it is provided.
About Cavidi AB
Cavidi's mission is to make medical diagnostics more accessible in those parts of the orld where resources and infrastructure are limited. Their products include ExaVir Load which is used to quantify the amount of HIV in a patient's blood, and ExaVir Drug which measures a patient's resistance to ARVs. Cavidi was founded by leading virologists at Uppsala University in Sweden in 1984.
http://www.cavidi.com
CONTACT: Contact Information: Kajsa Lowenhielm, Information Manager,
Mobile: +46-709-42-90-50, kajsa@cavidi.se