• iThera Medical

  Participated · Equity · Dec 2022

  iThera Medical, based in Munich, develops and markets Multispectral Optoacoustic Tomography (MSOT) imaging systems that use the photoacoustic effect to convert light into sound waves and visualize optical contrast at high resolution in deep tissue. The company’s MSOT technology is used for preclinical and clinical research and is already deployed at leading academic hospitals worldwide. Led by CEO Christian Wiest, iThera has focused on demonstrating MSOT’s clinical potential across a variety of disease areas. The company closed a €13M financing to support its next stage of development. Proceeds will be used to develop a MSOT device optimized for routine clinical use, to pursue CE and FDA regulatory approvals, and to expand clinical evidence in priority clinical indications. The financing included new and existing investors to accelerate the company’s transition from research deployments toward regulated clinical applications. iThera Medical is a spin-off from the Helmholtz Zentrum München that develops and markets multispectral optoacoustic tomography (MSOT), a non-invasive imaging technology providing real-time anatomical, functional and molecular information in living tissue. MSOT was invented by Prof. Vasilis Ntziachristos and Dr. Daniel Razansky at Helmholtz Zentrum München and is positioned for preclinical drug-discovery validation across oncology, neurology and cardiovascular indications, with future potential in clinical diagnostics. The company plans to use the recent funds to further develop and commercialize the technology for both preclinical and clinical applications. Earlier this year iThera secured a Phase II grant from the GO‑Bio programme (funded by the German Ministry of Education and Research, BMBF, and managed by Projektträger Jülich). Ascenion, the Helmholtz Zentrum’s technology transfer partner, supported the company’s foundation and funding and holds equity. The company is led by co‑founder and CEO Christian Wiest.

• GNA Biosolutions

  Participated · Series C · Sep 2019

  GNA Biosolutions develops a point-of-care molecular diagnostic platform using proprietary PCA technology that captures and amplifies nucleic acids from complex clinical samples. PCA assays are being developed for multiple therapeutic areas including infectious diseases and biothreats. The company’s first Point of Care product is intended for diagnosis of antibiotic-resistant hospital acquired infections (HAIs) and tuberculosis (TB). Management is led by co-founder and Managing Director Federico Buersgens and the company is based in Munich, Germany. GNA raised $13.5M in a Series C to advance development and secure IVD-CE marking of its first POC molecular diagnostic platform. PCA technology has not been cleared or approved by European or U.S. regulatory agencies and is currently for research use only. GNA Biosolutions GmbH is a Munich-based manufacturer of ultrafast pathogen diagnostic instruments that uses a laser-based PCR process. Founded in 2010 and spun out of the Institute for Photonics and Optoelectronics at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich, the company is led by Drs. Lars Ullerich, Federico Bürsgens and Joachim Stehr. Its core product is the Pharos400 instrument; the laser component enables PCR thermo-cycling and rapid readout to diagnose bacterial diseases within minutes without time-consuming laboratory diagnostics. The technology extracts and amplifies specific DNA sequences for pathogen detection. GNA raised €6m in a Series B financing to bring the Pharos400 to market maturity. Investors in the round include Robert Bosch Venture Capital as lead, with participation from SHS Gesellschaft für Beteiligungsmanagement GmbH, b-to-v Partners, UnternehmerTUM-Fonds and existing shareholders Mey Capital Matrix and KfW.

No current team members are available.