DNAe Banks $38 Million to Fund Development of Pioneering Point-of-Need IVD for Serious Blood Infections

DNAe Secures £25 million ($38 million) Bank Facility to Fund Development of Pioneering Point-of-Need IVD for Serious Blood Infections

- Bank facility will enable development of Genalysis® platform and bloodstream infection assays through to launch

LONDON & ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

DNAe, the inventors of semiconductor DNA sequencing technology, have secured a bank facility of £25 million ($38 million) to fund the final development stages of DNAe Diagnostics’ revolutionary point-of-need test for serious blood infections. This will include clinical trials targeted for 2016 and product launch in 2017.

The facility, with Citibank, follows an internal fundraising exercise that raised $24 million in January 2015 to fund DNAe’s acquisition of Albuquerque, USA-based nanoMR, Inc. (now DNA Electronics, Inc.).

DNAe is applying its Genalysis^® semiconductor DNA sequencing technology to develop a rapid in vitro diagnostic for serious blood infections that lead to sepsis. The test integrates DNA Electronics Inc.’s novel Pathogen Capture System technology with DNAe’s Genalysis^® platform, to provide a complete blood-to-result diagnostic solution with actionable results in 2-3 hours. This is a major step forward from current approaches, which can take days, in an area where time-to-result is a critical factor.

Prof. Chris Toumazou, Executive Chairman, DNAe said: “The development of our serious bloodstream infections test is progressing well. Following the acquisition and integration of nanoMR, Inc. earlier this year, we are in a great position to achieve our objective to launch our in vitro diagnostic system in 2017. Our semiconductor DNA semiconductor technology has the potential to revolutionise 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.”

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About DNAe – www.dnae.com

DNAe is commercialising its pioneering semiconductor DNA sequencing technology for healthcare applications where rapid near-patient live diagnostics is needed to provide actionable information to clinicians, saving lives by enabling the right treatment at the right time.

In January 2015 DNAe acquired nanoMR, Inc. (now DNA Electronics Inc.), a developer of a novel system for rapid isolation of rare cells in the bloodstream. DNAe is developing a complete sample to result genomic analysis platform combining DNA Electronics Inc.’s Pathogen Capture System with its own Genalysis^® semiconductor DNA sequencing technology. Built into a compact device for use at the point of need, the system will diagnose accurately and rapidly what infection a patient has, providing the clinician with actionable information to help select the appropriate antibiotics to treat the disease.

DNAe’s initial focus is on infectious disease diagnostics, where speed and DNA-specific information can make the difference between life and death. DNAe’s first product, will be a diagnostic test for bloodstream infections for use in the management and prevention of sepsis.

A private company, DNAe has strong financial backing from its investors, including major shareholder Genting Berhad, a Malaysian-based global investor with a growing portfolio of cutting–edge life sciences companies.

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• DNA sequencing
• blood infections