Owlstone Medical raises $15m to commercialize breath biopsy platform

Owlstone Medical touted today that it raised $15 million to support the commercialization of its breathalyzer diagnostic device.

Funds from the round, co-led by Horizons Ventures and Aviva Ventures, will also be used to expand the company’s pipeline and the precision medicine services that it provides to the pharma industry, according to the Cambridge, England-based company.

Owlstone Medical’s breath biopsy platform is designed to measure volatile organic compounds in a person’s breath as a means to diagnose particular diseases.

The company has collaborated with Cancer Research U.K. to launch a study evaluating the early detection of eight types of cancer using its breathalyzer.

Owlstone also inked a deal with GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK) last year to incorporate the company’s breath biopsy device in a phase II trial of the drug-maker’s chronic obstructive pulmonary disease product, danirixin.

“We believe Owlstone Medical is positioned to become a strong player in the fields of early cancer detection and precision medicine across multiple therapeutic areas,” Patrick Zhang of Horizons Ventures said in prepared remarks. “We are confident that Owlstone Medical’s breath biopsy platform could have a major impact on healthcare.”

“Aviva Ventures invests in entrepreneurs with high growth businesses and has identified Owlstone Medical’s technology as being strategically important to our business,” Aviva’s medical director, Dr. Doug Wright, added. “The expansion of our partnership with them signifies continued confidence in the company and in breath biopsy as an entirely new means of early disease detection, screening and treatment monitoring that could make a real difference to people’s health.”

“Since founding the company, we have established breath biopsy as a new industry category and are confident that this funding will allow us to demonstrate the significant value that we can deliver from our market-leading position in early detection and precision medicine,” co-founder & CEO Billy Boyle said.

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