Owlstone Medical has secured $50million of investment in the drive to become a global player with its breath test technology.
The SBRI Healthcare-backed company is developing a breathalyzer that has the potential for earlier diagnosis of cancer, and inflammatory and infectious diseases, with the aim of saving hundreds of thousands of lives and $1.5billion in healthcare costs.
In this latest funding round, Owlstone Medical has secured investors who can provide strategic support for its business and provide better access to key markets such as China. The move will also ease the company’s path to clinical and academic researchers to support product development, to high-quality manufacturing partners, and to additional international funding sources.
The funds have been raised to expand commercial opportunities in precision medicine including through the launch of targeted Breath Biopsy kits, and to enable further investment in the technology platform to support the development of additional high value applications.
Cambridge-based Owlstone Medical raised $15million earlier this year in the first phase of the funding round, led by Aviva Ventures and Horizons Ventures, and has been followed by a further $35million, headed up by Horizons Ventures.
Billy Boyle, co-founder and CEO at Owlstone Medical, said: “The closing of this round of financing marks a significant milestone for Owlstone Medical as it places us in a very secure financial position with a balance sheet sufficient to pursue all of our strategic commercial and development plans over the next several years, which we will execute through a combination of internal efforts and partnerships with industry leaders.”
Karen Livingstone, National Director AHSN Innovation Exchange and SBRI Healthcare, welcomed the announcement.
She said: “We are delighted for Owlstone Medical whose leading work in breath biopsy has significant potential to save lives and deliver healthcare efficiency across the globe.
“SBRI Healthcare are extremely proud to have supported the creation of this Medical Device company through our NHS funding programme. We look forward to the day when the ambitions of their founder and CEO, Billy Boyle, are realised and hundreds of thousands of people around the world can benefit from their vision.”
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