"We are always looking for the brightest thinkers and we have found that in Fluidic Analytics"

Biotechnology firm Fluidic Analytics has raised $31m - £23.5m - to continue developing products to unlock the biology behind major diseases.

Fluid Analytics was started in 2015 by Dr Andrew Lynn, a graduate of St John’s, and Professor Tuomas Knowles, a College Fellow, to gain advanced knowledge of how biology unfolds in daily life by developing products for characterising proteins and their behaviour.

These products have the potential to help researchers understand the mechanisms of conditions like Alzheimer’s disease, aid pharmaceutical companies to develop more effective drugs, and enable patients gain access to more accurate diagnostics in the clinic, at the pharmacy or even at home.

Proteins and their behaviour are crucial to understanding how diseases develop, identifying the way that drugs interact with their targets, and developing new methods for matching the right treatment to the right patient at the right time. DNA gives clues about what is likely to happen over a lifetime. Proteins and their behaviour tell us what is actually happening now.

Fluidic Analytics’ products are based on a proprietary technology platform from the University of Cambridge. This platform was designed explicitly to give deep insights into the way that proteins fold, aggregate and interact by characterising them in solution – precisely as they exist in the body.

Dr Andrew Lynn, Company CEO, alumnus of St John’s and founder, said: “This financing will power the global commercial launch of our Fluidity One system and enable our team to bring our next two lab-tools products to market. It will also allow us to advance a number of high-potential clinical applications that could help us make an even bigger impact on the world.

“We are delighted to be working with investors who share our vision of helping people everywhere make better decisions about how diseases are diagnosed, treatments are developed, and personal wellbeing is maintained.”

The financing was led by Draper Esprit, a pan-European venture capital fund that invests in disruptive technology companies at the early and growth stages. Joining the round as new investors were Delin Ventures and BGF, making its largest life-sciences investment to date and first in Cambridge. IQ Capital and Amadeus Capital Partners also joined Draper Esprit in backing Fluidic Analytics for a third successive time since the company’s first financing round.

Vishal Gulati, Healthtech VC which is one of the firm’s backing Fluidic, said: “We are always looking for the brightest thinkers with the best teams and technology to back for the long-term and we have found that in Fluidic Analytics. The progress Fluidic has made to date has been exemplary. The world needs transformational technologies that can help us to understand the full picture of how biology unfolds in daily life so we are delighted to back a company that is doing just that.”

Published: 01/02/19

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