Microvisk Technologies, a developer of a handheld system to monitor the blood clotting status of patients taking the drug Warfarin, has raised £6m through a rights issue to existing investors in an oversubscribed round.
Reportedly, the amount £10.5m raised by a UK life science company, over the last one year, is the third largest amount for Microvisk.
Microvisk has developed the medical diagnostic strip, Smartstrip device, based on a Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) that was created as a movement system for nano-robots and the company is planning to launch the device in UK market this autumn.
Microvisk’s ‘SmartStrip’ is a disposable strip that uses embedded sensors to work out the clotting speed of blood from a finger prick sample and the results are displayed on a handheld reader.
The Microvisk SmartStrip enables patients to test their blood clotting capacity at home, in the same way as diabetics test for glucose and requires less blood than other systems.
Microvisk CEO John Curtis said they are delighted to have raised the funding needed to gear up for the manufacture and launch of SmartStrip product in the UK this autumn.
"This funding round represents a real milestone for Microvisk as we also start to prepare for expansion into the German and US markets over the following year," Curtis said.