Switzerland-based molecular diagnostic company Biocartis closed a €71m ($100m) series C funding round on Thursday, with contributions from investors including Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation (JJDC), the corporate venturing unit for pharmaceutical conglomerate Johnson & Johnson, electronics and well being corporation Philips, and biopharmaceutical group Debiopharm.
Participants in the round also included ophthalmic company New Rhein Healthcare, Biovest, an immunotherapy subsidiary of Accentia Biopharmaceuticals, pension fund manager Valiance, healthcare research foundation the Wellcome Trust and Korys, the investment holding company for the Colruyt family, who operate one of Belgium’s largest retail chains.
Biocartis’ series B round raised $41.3m from JJDC, Debiopharm, Biovest, venture capital firm Advent Venture Partners and Benaruca, the investment vehicle for Biocartis co-founder Rudi Pauwels, in April 2010.
Prior to that, Biocartis’ October 2009 series A round raised $14.9m from investors including KBC Private Equity, a subsidiary of the KBC financial services company.
Joining the board in conjunction with funding are Staf Van Reet of Johnson & Johnson, Christine Deuschel of Debiopharm, Vincent Vliebergh of Korys and Alex Dittmair of Valiance, while Ruth Devenyns of KBC Private Equity and Shahzad Malik of Advent Venture Partners will step down from the board.
Founded in 2007, Biocartis will invest the capital in advancing its molecular diagnostic systems. Biocartis’ first system, a compact core system for performing multiple assays, developed in conjunction with Philips, known as Apollo.