Loop Diagnostics, also known as LoopDx, a diagnostic start-up in the MedTech sector born in Barcelona in 2018, has launched a crowdequity campaign of 500,000 euros to complete a round of financing of 3 million euros. The rest of the investment comes from European Next Generation funds (2.25 million) and from a private company in the health sector.
The round will allow the start-up company to finish the industrialization phase to produce on a large scale and bring to the market its rapid diagnostic test for blood infections (sepsis), capable of identifying with great sensitivity (86%) and specificity (100%) after the first hour of infection. The commercialization of the solution in Spain will be possible at the end of this year once the regulatory phase that the start-up is currently carrying out is over.
The campaign, active until May 16, is hosted on the Capital Cell online equity crowdfunding platform, specialized in biomedicine: https://capitalcell.es/campaign/loopdx. Any investor can participate with a minimum ticket of 500 euros.
This test was developed by the start-up in collaboration with Joan Sabater, a researcher at IDIBELL and the Bellvitge University Hospital. The result of this project was patented and licensed to the company itself.
According to the World Health Organization, sepsis currently affects 30 million patients worldwide and causes the death of 6 million of them, becoming the leading cause of hospital death. The studies and clinical trials carried out by the start-up with the collaboration of reference hospitals such as the Bellvitge University Hospital itself conclude that 40% of patients admitted to emergency rooms need to have a blood culture as a diagnostic test for sepsis. In addition, one in 10 people suspected of suffering from the disease ends up being positive. In total, 175,000 cases a year are detected in Spain.
The Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) is a biomedical research center created in 2004. It is participated by the Bellvitge University Hospital and the Viladecans Hospital of the Catalan Institute of Health, the Catalan Institute of Oncology, the University of Barcelona and the City Council of L’Hospitalet de Llobregat.
IDIBELL is a member of the Campus of International Excellence of the University of Barcelona HUBc and is part of the CERCA institution of the Generalitat de Catalunya. In 2009 it became one of the first five Spanish research centers accredited as a health research institute by the Carlos III Health Institute. In addition, it is part of the “HR Excellence in Research” program of the European Union and is a member of EATRIS and REGIC. Since 2018, IDIBELL has been an Accredited Center of the AECC Scientific Foundation (FCAECC).