• Biofortuna

  Participated · Equity · May 2010

  Biofortuna, launched in 2008 and led by CEO Dr Simon Douglas, is a Wirral, UK-based diagnostics company. It has developed a proprietary freeze-dried technology to stabilize molecular diagnostic products, replacing tests that are currently stored and transported frozen and requiring careful thawing and mixing before use. The company sells its own range of stabilized products, SSPGo, and has partnered with Abbott Molecular as the global exclusive distributor for these kits. Biofortuna raised £1.3m in funding, with backers including Enterprise Ventures, the Foresight Group (UK), Catapult Venture Managers, the Merseyside Special Investment Fund, private investors and management. The company intends to use the funds to expand manufacturing capability to support its custom service clients and to launch its SSPGo HLA product range in the USA. Prior financings noted in the article include a £1.1m raise in May 2010 and a £2.1m raise in April 2012. Biofortuna develops novel in‑vitro molecular diagnostic (IVD) products for the transplantation and pharmacogenetic markets, including a line of SSPGo™ HLA genotyping kits. The company uses specialist freeze‑drying technology to stabilize kit components so they can be shipped by post, stored at room temperature and used with pre‑mixed reagents; the user only needs to add a DNA sample. To date Biofortuna has 17 SSPGo™ HLA genotyping kits targeted at transplantation, disease‑association and companion diagnostic markets. The company plans to use new capital to gain regulatory approval in the USA, expand its product line and penetrate new markets. Biofortuna is hiring and is led by CEO Simon Douglas. It was established in 2008 and is based in Bromborough, UK. Biofortuna develops innovative genotyping and antibody screening diagnostics for applications including organ transplantation, blood banking, disease identification, microbiology and pharmacogenomics. The company plans to use new funding to launch its first diagnostic genotyping products and to continue development of its future product pipeline. Biofortuna was formed in 2008 and previously secured an R&D grant from the Northwest Development Agency and funding from the Liverpool Seed Fund. In 2009 the company signed sales and distribution agreements for European and North African markets and received regulatory approvals on its first product range. The management team is led by CEO Mike Bunce and Directors David Charvill and Ben Passey. Following the recent round, David Whitcombe (a member of the founding team of DXS, which was sold to Qiagen in 2009) will join the team.

No current team members are available.