Elypta, the Swedish molecular diagnostics firm pioneering metabolism-based liquid biopsies, has raised €6.1 million in a late seed funding round closing in December 2019 and led by Industrifonden and Sciety. Norrsken Foundation’s newly raised impact fund also contributed. Other investors included Barcelona-based seed fund Nina Capital and Chalmers Ventures, an owner since inception.
Elypta was founded in 2017 to develop the first metabolism-based liquid biopsy platform enabling early detection and closer follow-up of cancer. The company will use the funds to complete development of laboratory kits and software for measurement and analyses of a panel of metabolites identified by Elypta’s co-founders – professor Jens Nielsen at Chalmers University of Technology and Dr Francesco Gatto, Chalmers and also CSO at Elypta – as most promising for cancer diagnostics.
Elypta’s technology is being developed to ultimately be validated across multiple cancers and address a global market. The initial application will be a urine test for early detection of recurring kidney cancer, a condition where there are no suitable tests currently available. The application is currently being explored through the pivotal AURORAX-87A study (NCT04006405), the largest study to date in kidney cancer diagnostics funded by a €2.35 million Horizon 2020 grant.
“Our first objective is to improve patient follow-up. Prognosis is very poor if a tumor recurs after surgery and by providing a safe urine test which can be used more frequently than CT (computed tomography) we hope to enable earlier detection and ultimately open a window for curative treatments,” said Elypta CEO Karl Bergman. “This funding allows us to execute on our plans and make our first test available to urologists and patients, as well as for research across pharma and academia.”
Jonas Jendi at Industrifonden comments: “Elypta combines novel science, data analytics software and a solid clinical validation plan, making them an excellent fit for our healthtech investment focus. We believe Elypta has a great opportunity to improve the standard of care in this challenging and important field.”
Tove Larsson, General Partner at Norrsken VC adds: “Elypta has the potential to impact the lives of millions of people, as its solution can increase the survival rate for one of the most common causes of death: cancer.”
Source: www.elypta.com