Funding
Microvisk Technologies Ltd, which is developing point-of-care monitoring of blood coagulation in patients taking the drug Warfarin, has raised £2 million in a round in which it attracted three new investors, with current private and institutional investors followed on.
The company was spun out of the UK’s Science and Technology Facilities Council in 2004, with initial backing from public Rainbow Seed Fund.
The new round will advance development of SmartStrip, a medical diagnostic strip based on a solid state micro electro-mechanical system, accompanied by a hand-held reader. The money will enable the system to be launched in 2011.
Warfarin is used to prevent coagulation in people with blood clotting disorders, but it is very difficult to establish the correct dose of the drug and patients need constant monitoring. The Microvisk technology is designed to measure levels of the blood clotting agent prothrombin, providing clinicians with information to make fine adjustments in dosage. It will be available as a point-of-care and a home use test, improving the management of Warfarin treatment.
According to Microvisk, coagulation is an area of government concern. In 2008 the US and German health care systems announced they would pay for all at-risk users of Warfarin to test their blood once per week at home.
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