Germany: pluriSelect raises €600K

Funding

Biotech start-up pluriSelect GmbH has closed a financing round of €600,000 with the High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) and Saxony’s investment fund Technologie Gründerfonds Sachsen (TGFS), for the commercialisation of pluriBead, the Leipzig-based company’s technology for the rapid separation of biomolecules and cells.

The basic principle of the separation technology relies on the physical separation of different sized beads using a proprietary separation technology, enabling users to isolate purified populations of the target molecule from a heterogeneous mixture. pluriBead allows the fast separation of various targets, including cells, bacteria, proteins and viruses from whole blood, cord blood, cell culture and other solutions.

“The technology is simple and flexible to use. Now, researchers have the opportunity to isolate targets fast and reliably without the use of expensive lab equipment,” said Jan-Michael Heinrich, founder and CEO of pluriSelect. “We are currently developing a diagnostic system to monitor the immune status of HIV patients in the developing countries, supporting their antiviral therapy treatment. As our system does not require any infrastructure, it can be used practically anywhere and at very low cost.”

No sample preparation, centrifugation, removal or lysis of blood cells is required. In addition it is possible to isolate several entities from a single sample in one isolation experiment.

“It’s hard to find young biotech enterprises, which are so customer-focused and at the same time so close to market,” said Bernd Goergen, Senior Investment Manager of the High-Tech Gründerfonds Management.

TGFS invests in young companies in Saxony, taking a minority stake and providing management support for start-ups. The fund’s money come Saxony’s state government with support from the European Regional Development Fund and local banks.