Lumos Diagnostics, an Australia-based point-of-care diagnostics provider backed by healthcare product design and manufacturing company Planet Innovation, closed a A$25m ($17.9m) round yesterday that featured fund manager Ellerston Capital.
The round included investment management firm Perennial Value Management and unnamed new and existing institutional investors. Planet Innovation had provided $15m to lead Lumos’s series A round in February 2020.
Lumos has developed two rapid disease tests for covid-19: an antibody assay for detecting previous coronavirus infections, and a 10-minute blood test to distinguish respiratory viruses from bacterial illnesses.
The funding will help strengthen the company’s manufacturing facilities in Florida and California as it looks to complete clinical trials and win US market share for its blood test product. It is also preparing the ground for an IPO on the Australian Securities Exchange in 2021.