Biocartis Poised for 2014 Commerical Launch with EUR 30 Million Series E Equity Fundraising

MECHELEN, Belgium and LAUSANNE, Switzerland, November 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

Biocartis, a molecular diagnostics company developing and commercializing innovative, easy to use platforms and clinically relevant assays, announced today the completion of an EUR 30 million Series E equity fundraising. The additional capital will be used to validate Biocartis' molecular diagnostics platform Idylla^[TM]and its first assay and to continue the development of a range of assays, primarily in the oncology field. Biocartis is now in pole position to unroll an ambitious commercialization plan in 2014.

This series E round was entirely subscribed by the existing shareholders such as  RMM (Rudi Mariën), Debiopharm DiagnosticsSA, PMV Tina Fund, Valiance, Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, Philips, the Wellcome Trust, Petercam, the family offices of Dr. Paul Janssen, Luc Verelst, Rudi Pauwels (founder of Biocartis) and some smaller shareholders, including some employees.

Hilde Windels, CFO of Biocartis, commented: "We believe the successful completion of this fundraise is again a testimony to the quality of Biocartis' technology, its leading position, its promise to provide the tools for true personalized medicine in an exponentially growing market. Our molecular diagnostics platform Idylla^[TM][1] truly meets the need of pathologists and key clinicians who recognize the platform as being rapid and easy-to-use, with a high level of standardization. We are delighted that our existing shareholders continue to support Biocartis' progress, and look forward to putting these resources to work to advance our vision of becoming a fully integrated global diagnostics company."

Biocartis' flagship platform Idylla^[TM] and the BRAF cancer assay are expected to be launched in the second half of 2014. Idylla^[TM] is a compact and scalable molecular diagnostics platform that allows assays to be performed anywhere, anytime without the need for a specialist laboratory environment and trained technicians. Idylla^[TM] rapidly detects biomarkers in cancer samples, amongst other clinical patient samples, with a much higher sensitivity as compared to standard diagnostic assays and standard sequencing.