GILUPI closes financing round to commercialise cancer detection technique

GILUPI GmbH, an innovative company based in Potsdam, Germany, closed a third round financing with Aurelia Private Equity, Brandenburg Capital (BFBII), KfW Bankengruppe and High-Tech Gründerfonds. GILUPI develops and produces medical devices for the in vivo isolation of rare cells out of the circulating blood. GILUPI will use the current financing mainly for the CE-certification and the subsequent introduction into the market of its patented medical detector.

The early approval of the device according to the MPG (Medical Devices Act) is essential for achieving the economic objectives of GILUPI. New innovative products for isolating rare cells out of the blood are currently of high interest on the market for medical products. Due to the long phases of product development and approval and the market life cycles of products which are becoming shorter an immediate entry into the market is important. Therefore, the first GILUPI product for clinical research, “Nanodetector Cancer 01”, is intended to get its approval in 2011. Further approvals, possibly in combination with in vitro diagnostic kits for the analysis of isolated cells, will be applied for in the fields of cancer and prenatal diagnostics in the years to come.

For the production and the market entry of a medical product the certification of the producer according to ISO 13485 and the CE-certification of the device are mandatory.

The early detection of cancer is still the most decisive factor in its successful treatment, its follow-up and the improvement of the patient´s quality of life. The value of today´s diagnostic methods is limited because some of the methods rely on small specimen volumes from which conclusions concerning the status of a whole organ or the complete organism are being drawn. In addition many of these methods put the patients under a heavy physical or mental burden.This situation is emphasizing the necessity for developing new methods of improved diagnostic value. The new GILUPI medical device is an innovative approach combining the in vivo isolation of cells and their subsequent in vitro analysis. The nanodetector makes it possible to specifically isolate tumor cells out of a patient´s circulating blood by the predetermined selectivity of the antibodies bound on the nanodetector. These cells can then be used for the analysis of their genetic status and for determining genetic aberrations.

In several clinical trials tumor cells were isolated by this nanodetector with a detection rate of more than 90 %.

“In addition to our unique technological platform a further strength of GILUPI is its team of investors. I am very proud that besides the ERP Startfonds all of the first investors have joined again for the next round of financing GILUPI´s efforts with 3.6 Million Euros and are supporting our course of expansion”, the founder and CEO of GILUPI, Klaus Lücke, is saying and continues “with this new round we are not only implementing our entry into the market but we will also establish the structure for future cooperations”.

It is the objective to improve the current nanodetector further and to use it for the early detection of several cancers, for evaluating therapy effects, the follow-up and for predicting the prognosis of the disease.For a similar medical device designed for prenatal diagnostics the in vivo proof of concept was achieved.

GILUPI – founded in 2006 and located in the Science Park of Potsdam-Golm – developed a patented medical detector. The nanodetector consists of a thin gold coated wire which is covered with threads of a nanopolymer in order to make the tip of the wire smooth and biocompatible. The polymer layer is simultaneously serving as support for the tight binding of antibodies against specific molecules on cells which are to be isolated out of the circulating blood. These antibodies are able to bind these molecules and thus capture the cells.