Antelope Dx concludes its B financing round and raises EUR 9 million
ANTELOPE DX BV, a young, innovative company focusing on the development of a palm-sized diagnostic device for home testing, has concluded its B financing round of EUR 9 million. The round was subscribed in a 50/50 ratio by an investment consortium led by Whitefund, and the Existing A-round investors.
This fundraising will enable Antelope to initiate clinical development of the urine-based self-test for sexually transmitted diseases Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) and Neisseria gonorrhea (NG) towards an IVD product.
Furthermore, Antelope is developing a respiratory Influenza A/B and Sars-CoV-2 test using a single swab sample, which will enable worried individuals to test in their home setting, thus reducing the risk of disease transmission and allowing for a fast self-isolation.
Developments also include quantitative measurements of protein biomarkers in a finger prick blood sample. The goal is to bring a broad test menu for the individual to test relevant parameters at home: from acute infection detection to disease monitoring using various sample types.
The uniqueness of Antelope’s offering is a consequence of the combination of 3 features that are typically very difficult to combine: clinical lab performance with the ease-of-use of a pregnancy test at a consumer price tag. The platform is based on innovative lab-on-chip technology and aims to perform high quality tests on any bodily fluid, without requiring complex user operations or sample preparation.
Hilde Windels, CEO of Antelope Dx said: “We are very pleased with the new investment consortium and in particular with Whitefund, who was a very constructive partner in this round. Michel Baijot, chairman of Whitefund, will join our board, together with Hugues Wallemacq. Michel brings over 25 years of relevant medical and in particular diagnostic expertise and in-depth knowledge of developed and emerging markets in combination with a very large network. Hugues is a Noshaq investment manager with a broad experience in the medical field ranging from research and development to commercialization of innovative vaccines and diagnostic applications. We look forward to closely working together to make Antelope Dx a success.”
Michel Baijot, Chairman of Whitefund, commented: “We were very pleased to lead this financing round involving other solid private partners and to count Antelope Dx as Whitefund’s first investment. Antelope Dx’ innovative technology platform allows to address the real need of "at home diagnostic testing", as pointed and urgently requested by the current Covid-19 pandemic.”
Marc Foidart, COO of Noshaq: “We believe that this project has a real development potential and substantial economic value. It brings together very promising ecosystems in the field of diagnostics between Ghent and Liège.”