Novus Diagnostics raises €5M for its rapid sepsis tests

Irish medtech Novus Diagnostics has secured €5m in equity financing to develop its rapid detection sepsis tests.

The round was led by Grimpeur Holdings, with participation from Enterprise Ireland and the European Innovation Council (EIC). This follows €2.4m in funding from the EIC in 2020, bringing the total funds raised by the former Start-Up of the Week to €7.4m.

Sepsis is the body’s extreme immune response to an infection. Failure to diagnose and treat sepsis early can lead to septic shock, organ failure and often death.

Founded by Dr Elaine Spain and Dr Kellie Adamson, Novus has created technology that can test for sepsis and get results within 15 minutes – a process that typically takes more than 12 hours.

Novus said speeding up this process enables clinicians to immediately target treatment to the pathogen causing the infection, which can save lives while reducing healthcare costs, antibiotic usage and the length of hospital stays.

In addition to the rapid turnaround time, Novus said the test can also classify the type of infection the patient has. The start-up started out under the name of this flagship medical device called SepTec.

This device was dubbed the One to Watch at the 2018 Big Ideas showcase of science-led start-ups.

The medtech said the technology recently delivered promising results in pilot-scale clinical studies at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin.

Novus CEO Keith O’Neill said the investment is a “major boost for the company” and will be used to expand the team and accelerate its development programme.

The company currently employs 12 staff at its base in Dublin, with plans to recruit for a number of R&D, engineering, quality and regulatory roles in the coming months.

“Having the support of such experienced investors provides a significant endorsement of our mission to transform the diagnosis and management of life-threatening infections,” O’Neill said. “Our focus now is on completing development and validation of the platform so the life-saving potential of SepTec can be realised in the clinic.” Silicon Republic