Swedish discovery tools firm raises €5.8m
total of SEK 53 million (€5.8 million) following the completion of
its latest Series B financing round, writes Wai Lang Chu.
Cellectricon develops functional cell-based technologies and life science tools in the drug discovery process. Its first generation of products, Dynaflow, launched during Autumn 2003, is a tool for ion channel drug discovery and offers productivity increases with savings in time and cost. Dynaflow has since been adopted by several of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies, according to the company.
Jakob Lindberg, chief executive of Cellectricon said: "Securing this new round of investment is a significant validation of our innovative technologies, business model and success with Dynaflow."
"The funding will enable us to successfully launch Dynaflow globally and expand the product range with the next generation of Dynaflow chips."
The Dynaflow system enables rapid and programmable step-function application on a number of drugs to a single patch-clamped cell. Drug discovery and receptor characterisation can be performed with speed and accuracy, with a low consumption of the drug.
As well as characterisation of ion channel function, the scalable microfluidic chip applies to several areas in the drug discovery process such as target validation, later phases of lead identification, lead optimisation, and preclinical studies. The system could also be a useful tool in safety assessment applications.
The next generation of the Dynaflow chip is currently under development and will be launched during Autumn 2004.
Cellectricon's second product, Axoporator, is a single cell electroporation platform and is a collaboration between Cellectricon and Axon Instruments, which has sole access to Cellectricon's patented transfection technology.
The new Axoporator line of products is used for rapid internalisation of DNA, drugs and large molecules into cells. The Axoporator can be used for more complex and refined experiments than traditional electroporators.
Electroporation is a technique by which DNA, RNA, proteins, dyes, drugs and other large molecules are inserted directly into cells. An electrical discharge is applied to the cells allowing the molecules to pass into the cell. In single-cell electroporation, molecules are introduced to individual, selected cells. This is important for when the molecules of interest are rare and valuable.
Cellectricon was formed in 2000 and owns more than 10 patent families within different areas such as high-throughput electrophysiology, patch clamping, microfluidics, microfabrication, and electroporation.
