January 27, 2011 — Microvisk Technologies, developer of a handheld system to monitor the blood clotting status of patients taking the drug Warfarin, raised £6 million (US $9.54 million) through a rights issue to existing investors in an oversubscribed round. This is the third round of funding for Microvisk, which has secured £10.5 million in the past 12 months.
The round included investment from Porton Capital, Oxford Technology Management, New Hill (Boston, MA), Midven, the Rainbow Seed Fund, Finance Wales, and private investors. Previous rounds in 2010 saw Microvisk attract £4.5 million from new and existing investors.
A spin-out company from the Science and Technology Facilities Council, Microvisk has developed a medical diagnostic strip based on a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) that was created as a movement system for nano-robots. The Microvisk product is a solid state system that requires far less blood for the Prothrombin or INR test than conventional systems. The "SmartStrip" is a disposable strip that uses embedded sensors to work out the clotting speed of blood from a finger prick sample and the results are displayed on a handheld reader. The coagulation status (clotting speed) of the patient is measured by tiny multi-layered paddles on the surface of the strip (a small cantilever measures viscosity) and a memory chip enures the device is calibrated for accuracy.
Microvisk will launch the Smartstrip device in the UK market in Fall 2011, and starting trials in the US and Germany within the next 6 months. Microvisk will launch the Smartstrip in these countries in 2012. The capital raised via the funding round to continue clinical trials in the UK and expand its research and manufacturing facilities as well as recruiting additional scientists and manufacturing staff.
Warfarin is used by 7 million people in the western world, with over 1 million new patients annually (according to FDA estimates cited by Microvisk). Patients must have regular blood tests to monitor dosage. Blood clots can form if doses are too low; bleeding can result from too-high doses. Smartstrips allow patients to test blood coagulation at home, as opposed to hospital or doctor visits, enabling at-home healthcare.
Microvisk is a UK-based company developing medical testing devices based on MEMS for the international medical market. Learn more at www.microvisk.com
Also read: A new take on MEMS innovation by Marlene Bourne
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