Portable Medical Diagnostics Company 1DROP Raises $4.25 Million

1DROP, a life science company developing and commercializing an easy to use, laboratory quality, portable medical diagnostic testing platform, closed a $4.25 million Series A equity financing round. The deal was led by Christian Wildmoser (former partner CVC Capital Partners & Swiss Startup Group Investor). Major private investors of the Swiss Startup Group including Dr. Hans-Peter Strebel (owner of On Your Marks, the competence center for top athletics and research) joined the round. Beat Schillig (IFJ Institute for Young Entrepreneurs) and Jean-Philippe de Toledo (CEO of Pharmacie Principale) invested. This financing round was supported by VentureLab.

"Providing diagnostic results where and when they are needed is an enormous opportunity to improve healthcare," said 1DROP founder and CEO Dr. Luc Gervais. "1DROP eliminates inefficiencies in the healthcare system: the large volume of blood from a venipuncture of the arm, transport of the sample to the laboratory, labor to analyze the sample, long waiting times, phone and email with the doctor, and a second doctor’s visit for results and corresponding treatment."

1DROP plans to use the financing to expand research and development and to commercialize the medical diagnostics platform. The company plans to perform clinical studies to demonstrate the device’s suitability for near-patient use and to develop additional panels of tests. 1DROP plans to obtain the appropriate regulatory approvals and integrate diagnostic test results with electronic medical records. Machine learning will establish patterns of disease evolution and clinical outcomes.

Dr. Luc Gervais commented, "This financing round is an important validation of the innovation and progress the 1DROP team has made. This will accelerate the development and commercialization of our product. I am especially pleased to be joined by investors with a very strong track record in building successful companies."

Enabling presision medicine
"The diagnostics industry is on the verge of a quantum leap. 1DROP is in pole position to transform not only medical diagnostics but the practice of precision medicine. We're proud to partner with a company that is committed to the scientific method and providing rapid and accurate health and diagnostic data," said Jean-Philippe de Toledo.

The 1DROP device has been thoroughly vetted in clinical validation studies in hospitals, clinical laboratories and pharmaceutical companies. The company collaborates with Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Harvard University, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne (EPFL).

Three pharmaceutical partners
1DROP is currently working with three pharmaceutical partners to create companion diagnostic products for cardiology, autoimmune disease and glucose metabolism drug candidates. 1DROP plans to actively work with pharmaceutical, diagnostic and biomarker companies to develop more integrated solutions between diagnostics and therapeutics that improve the outcome for the individual patient.

(Press release)