Israeli molecular diagnostic company ImmunArray has closed a Series B financing round led by private investment firm Exigent. With offices in Rehovot and Richmond, Virginia, ImmunArray has developed novel blood tests and pioneers new and more accurate ways to diagnose autoimmune diseases such as lupus as well as traumatic brain injury (TBI).
The company was founded in 2006 based on iCHIP technology licensed from the Weizmann Institute of Science. iCHIP technology can determine the presence of a specific set of molecular biomarkers that are linked to particular disease or condition. The company’s first commercially available test is the SLE-Key Rule-Out Test, to definitively establish that a patient does not have Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) or lupus. ImmunArray also was a grant recipient of the GE-NFL Head Health Challenge and is developing a simple test with the accuracy, sensitivity and specificity to determine whether or not a person has received a concussion or other forms of traumatic brain injury. Other tests for more chronic follow up in brain injury also are under development.
“ImmunArray has made tremendous progress in developing a diagnostic platform that is demonstrating its capacity to transform how diseases and other conditions are diagnosed with greater efficiency, higher levels of accuracy and enhanced simplicity,” said Eliezer Brender, chief investment officer, Exigent. “The company has assembled a very experienced and knowledgeable management team, a team that not only will continue to lead development efforts into new diagnostic arenas but also work to commercialize these products in the marketplace. As ImmunArray begins to drive revenue and reimbursements from insurers for their tests, this investment will serve to accelerate its progress.”
“This major investment from Exigent is not only a validation of our early work, but it also allows us to accelerate and expand our commercial infrastructure, widen our reach into lupus-related products and broaden our work into other autoimmune diseases,” said Donna Edmonds, CEO and Chairman, ImmunArray. “The funding also will help us leverage our considerable progress in the area of traumatic brain injury as we move to market on that front. We are grateful for this vote of confidence from our colleagues at Exigent and look forward to accomplishing great things together.”
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 13, 2016
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