Owlstone Medical Completes $50 Million USD (c.£38 Million GBP) Financing Round

Investment will fund the global commercialization of Owlstone Medical’s Breath Biopsy platform for early disease detection and precision medicine

Published on: 7 Oct 2018

  • Investment will fund the global commercialization of Owlstone Medical’s Breath Biopsy® platform for early disease detection and precision medicine

  • The first phase of the round, announced March 2018, raised $15 million (c.£11 million) and was led by Aviva Ventures and Horizons Ventures

  • This second phase, attracting global interest and led by Horizons Ventures, raised a further $35 million (c.£27 million)

  • Strategic investment was preferentially sought in the round to support global commercial and development activities

Cambridge, UK, 01 October 2018: Owlstone Medical Ltd (or the “Company”), a global diagnostics company developing a breathalyzer for applications in early disease detection and precision medicine, announced today that it has completed its financing round to drive the global commercialization of its Breath Biopsy platform. The round raised a total of $50 million (c.£38 million) inclusive of the previously announced $15 million (c.£11 million) on 5 March 2018, bringing the total raised by the Company to c.$73 million (c.£56 million) since founding in 2016.

As has been previously announced, the initial phase of this financing round was led by Aviva Ventures, the venture capital arm of Aviva plc, a global leader in insurance, and Horizons Ventures, the private investment arm of Mr. Li Ka-shing. The additional $35 million completion of the round was led by Horizons Ventures, joined by a group of highly regarded global strategic investors including Ventura Capital and Foxconn Technologies Group.

In this round, Owlstone Medical sought participation from organizations that in addition to capital investment would also be able to provide strategic support for the business. With these long-term investors now in place, the Company is in a position to benefit from improved access to key markets such as China, to clinical and academic researchers to support product development efforts, to high-quality manufacturing partners, and to additional international funding sources.

The funds have been raised to expand commercial opportunities in precision medicine including through the launch of targeted Breath Biopsy kits, and to enable further investment in the technology platform to support the development of additional high value applications.

Horizons Ventures’ Patrick Zhang commented: “Following our initial investment in Owlstone Medical, we have become further convinced that Breath Biopsy has the potential to transform the fields of early cancer detection and precision medicine in the years to come. We believe that Owlstone Medical is uniquely positioned to be able to facilitate this change and so have provided additional support to help realize this vision.”

Billy Boyle, co-founder and CEO at Owlstone Medical, said: “The closing of this round of financing marks a significant milestone for Owlstone Medical as it places us in a very secure financial position with a balance sheet sufficient to pursue all of our strategic commercial and development plans over the next several years, which we will execute through a combination of internal efforts and partnerships with industry leaders.

“We have been gratified by the high level of international interest we have received over the course of this raise, demonstrating that the need for improved diagnostic modalities that solve the challenges of early detection and precision medicine is global. We enjoyed particularly strong interest from Asian investors in the round, and as China is a key market for the Company we are encouraged by the strategic value of these partners as we seek to accelerate entry into this market.”

The Breath Biopsy Conference 2018 is Owlstone Medical’s inaugural community meeting for breath researchers. https://www.owlstonemedical.com/about/events/breath-biopsy-conference-2018/

ENDS

Owlstone Medical 完成5000萬美元 )融資

  • 投資將為Owlstone Medical的Breath Biopsy®(呼吸活檢)平台全球商業化提供資金,用於提供早期疾病檢測和精準醫療服務
  • 首期1500萬美元融資已於2018年3月5日公布,由Aviva Ventures及維港投資共同領投
  • 第二階段募資獲得全球關注並由維港投資領投,共募得3500萬美元
  • 本輪融資優先尋求戰略投資優先以便支持環球商業發展活動

英國劍橋,2018年10月1日:Owlstone Medical Ltd(下或稱「公司」)是一家環球醫療診斷公司,開發用於早期疾病檢測和精準醫療應用的呼吸診斷儀器,今天宣布已完成融資輪,以推動其Breath Biopsy® 平台全球商業化。 該輪融資共籌集得5000萬美元,其中包括之前於2018年3月5日公布的1500萬美元。目前公司自2016年成立以來共募得約7300萬美元資金

正如之前所公布,本輪融資中1500萬美元的初始投資由全球領先的保險公司Aviva plc的風險投資部門Aviva Ventures與李嘉誠先生的私人投資部門維港投資領導。 額外的3500萬美元則由維港投資領導,並得到一眾聲譽極佳的環球戰略投資者共襄盛舉,其中包括Ventura Capital及鴻海科技集團。

在這輪融資中,除了資本投資之外,Owlstone Medical還希望參與機構可為企業提供戰略支持。 隨著這些長期投資者加入,公司處於進入中國等主要市場的有利位置,並且在聯繫臨床和學術研究人員、優秀生產夥伴,及在國際市場額外獲得資金等方面亦具有優勢。

這些資金將用於擴展精準醫療的商業機會,包括商業化精準醫療的呼吸活檢測套件,並進一步投資技術平台,以支持開發其他高價值的應用程式。

維港投資的張浩瑞表示:「在我們對Owlstone Medical進行初期投資後,我們更確信呼吸活檢將在未來幾年革新早期癌症檢測和精準醫療。 我們相信Owlstone Medical具有獨特的優勢,能夠為全球帶來變革,因此提供額外支持為Owlstone實現這願景。」

Owlstone Medical 創辦人兼行政總裁 Billy Boyle 說:「完成此輪的融資標誌著 Owlstone Medical 一個重要里程碑,因它讓我們有充裕的財政基礎,藉著內部努力和與行業領袖的合作,財務表能容納所有未來數年我們的策略性商業和發展計劃。我們特別感謝在此輪融資期間國際間的高度重視,展示期望對改善診斷形式,以應對早期檢測和精準醫療挑戰的需求是全球性。在這輪投資之中,我們特別受到亞洲投資者的關注,以及因中國為公司重要的市場,我們得到這些合作夥伴的鼓舞,希望加快打進這市場。」

2018 呼吸活檢研討會是 Owlstone Medical 以研究員為對象的首次社區會議。
https://www.owlstonemedical.com/about/events/breath-biopsy-conference-2018/

Notes to Editors

Media contact

For more information please contact:

Owlstone Medical
Chris Claxton, Head of Investor Relations
chris.claxton@owlstone.co.uk

Media relations:
Sarah Jeffery, Zyme Communications
sarah.jeffery@zymecommunications.com
+44 (0)7771 730919

Shabnam Bashir, Citigate Dewe Rogerson
shabnam.bashir@citigatedewerogerson.com

Owlstone Medical Key Achievements

  • 27 Jun 18: Breath Biopsy platform wins the 2018 MacRobert Award, the UK’s most prestigious award for engineering innovation
  • 09 Apr 18: Owlstone Medical provides Breath Biopsy Services to AstraZeneca to study disease drivers in Asthma and COPD
  • 28 Mar 18: Owlstone Medical launches Breath Biopsy Kits
  • 05 Mar 18: Owlstone Medical raises $15 million USD (£11 million GBP) with Horizons Ventures and Aviva
  • 27 Nov 17: Owlstone Medical’s Breath Biopsy Platform integrated into GSK’s Phase II Respiratory Disease Clinical Trial
  • 10 Jul 17: Owlstone Medical and Cancer Research UK (CRUK) Initiate Pan Cancer Clinical Trial to Evaluate Breath Biopsy for Early Detection of Disease
  • 27 Mar 17: Aviva Invests in Owlstone Medical Breath Biopsy® platform
  • 17 Mar 17: Owlstone Medical Opens New High-Volume Breath Biopsy Lab
  • 07 Feb 17: Owlstone Medical commences 1,400 patient clinical trial for early detection of colorectal cancer
  • 06 Jan 17: Owlstone Medical Announces $11.55M USD Fundraising
  • 22 Sep 16: Owlstone Medical commences next phase in world’s largest breath-based clinical trial for early cancer detection
  • 28 Jul 16: Owlstone Medical announces formation of Owlstone Medical Ltd. as a spin-out from Owlstone Inc. and closes $7M (£4.9M) investment to commercialize disease breathalyzer

About Horizons Ventures

www.horizonsventures.com
Horizons Ventures, the private investment arm of Mr. Li Ka-shing, is a leading investor in some of the world’s most innovative companies and disruptive technologies, including Facebook, Spotify, Impossible Foods, Improbable, Zoom, Blockstream, Soul Machines and ChromaDex.

About Foxconn Technology Group

www.foxconn.com
Established in 1974, Foxconn Technology Group (“Foxconn”) is the global leader in manufacturing services for the computer, communication, and consumer electronics (3C) industry. A multinational company headquartered in Taiwan, Foxconn offers many of the leading U.S. and international companies in electronics a one-stop integrated manufacturing solution. Foxconn generated total annual revenue of $158 billion in 2017 and was ranked No. 24 on the 2018 Fortune magazine Global 500. The company has facilities in Asia, Europe, and the Americas.

Foxconn is leveraging the potential of cloud computing, mobile devices, the Internet of Things, Big Data, artificial intelligence, networks, and robotics and automation, in its transformation as a leading high-tech enterprise and industrial Internet company. The company has research centers and testing laboratories internationally and has received more than 83,500 patents worldwide. In addition to maximizing value creation for customers, Foxconn is also dedicated to enhancing the concept of environmental sustainability in the manufacturing process and serving as a best-practices model for global enterprises.

About Ventura Capital

www.ventura.ae
Ventura Capital is a regulated investment company based in London, Hong Kong and Dubai, focused on leading consumer technology companies in the pre-IPO growth stage.

Breath Biopsy®

If you want to learn more about Owlstone Medical’s Breath Biopsy platform, why not download our free ebook: Breath Biopsy: The Complete Guide?

Breath Biopsy Complete Guide

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