Cologne-based neonatal test developer InfanDx AG has increased its first-round financing from €4m to €6m in an oversubscribed second tranche.
The new investor FIL Bros. Capital GmbH, an investment vehicle of the entrepreneur Tom Schröder, acted as the main investor of the 2nd financing tranche. Investors in the first tranche from July 2021 also participated. The neonatal diagnostics company, based in Cologne and Boston, intends to use the money to advance the development of its currently clinically tested HypoxE® blood test for the metabolic marker-based early diagnosis of hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). The biomarkers used for the HypoxE® blood test have already been clinically pre-validated in the prospective longitudinal cohort study AAMBI conducted in Turkey and are expected to be verified in the BANON study by the end of March.
Before the end of this year, InfanDx AG, led by ex-Adrenomed COO Dr. Achim Plum, intends to validate the biomarker panel and associated Ki-based interpretation algorithm, introduce prototypes of the HypoxE® test for laboratory and on-site testing applications, develop cloud-based interpretation software to support clinical decision-making in HIE, and begin pivotal clinical trials of the test in the US. These are expected to be funded through a Series B round, which will also enable a product launch in Europe.
The test is designed to reliably diagnose hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) induced by oxygen deficiency at birth (perinatal asphyxia) in the first hours after birth. According to the company, permanent brain damage resulting from HIE can be mitigated or even prevented by neuroprotective lowering of body temperature (hypothermia treatment) within six hours after birth. Previously used diagnostic methods such as the APGAR score or fetal blood pH are too nonspecific, and other methods such as aEEG and MRI are too slow, to justify timely hypothermia treatment.