NEWS & INSIGHTS

Helsinn Investment Fund Invests £2.0 Million in QuantuMDx

New fund backed by the Helsinn Group, focused on supporting early-stage opportunities in areas of high unmet patient need.

HIF has invested £2.0 million in QuantuMDx, a multinational life sciences tools and diagnostics developer.

10 October 2016

QuantuMDx

Lugano, Switzerland, 10 October 2016: Helsinn Investment Fund S.A., a fund focused on early-stage investments in areas of high unmet patient need, today announces that it has made a £2.0 million investment in QuantuMDx Group, a privately-held multinational life sciences tools and diagnostics developer headquartered in the United Kingdom. The investment is one of a series of early-stage investments made by Helsinn Investment Fund, which is incorporated in Luxembourg and is fully owned by Helsinn Group.

The investment by Helsinn Investment Fund will be used to support the continued development and early commercialisation of QuantuMDx’s flagship device Q-POC™, a handheld molecular laboratory, capable of sample-to-result molecular analysis in minutes, for use in both developing and developed nations. Helsinn Investment Fund will have a seat on QuantuMDx’s Business Advisory Board.

QuantuMDx is transforming point of care diagnostics with the development of technologies for use in a range of settings including clinics, pharmacies, hospitals, laboratories and in the field. The company’s product range innovates each aspect of the DNA testing process, from sample concentration, DNA extraction to amplification and electrical or fluorescent detection.

These technologies have been integrated into Q-POCâ„¢, a low cost, simple to use device that can be operated without the need for water and a stable power source. Disposable test cartridges will analyse the DNA of disease-causing pathogens to give a diagnostic result in 15-20 minutes, including identifying drug resistance, a process which traditionally takes days, or even weeks. With the ability to carry out analysis on samples such as blood, sputum or tumour tissue, the device will become a powerful tool in the fight against diseases like tuberculosis, sexually transmitted diseases and cancer.

Helsinn Investment Fund has been set up to apply Helsinn’s fundamental core values of quality, integrity and respect, and to draw on 40 years’ expertise in research and development and commercialisation of therapeutic candidates in cancer care, pain and inflammation and gastroenterology. The Fund aims to help companies working across a range of areas in healthcare to develop early-stage technologies into commercial solutions that will impact health-related quality of life of patients.

Elaine Warburton, CEO of QuantuMDx, said: “We’re delighted that QuantuMDx has become one of the first investments for the Helsinn Investment Fund. Helsinn Group’s mission to invest in and provide valuable support to transformative technologies such as Q-POC™, for use in areas of high unmet need, aligns perfectly with QuantuMDx’s humanitarian and commercial philosophy in our chosen field of molecular diagnostics.”

Riccardo Braglia, Helsinn Group Vice Chairman and CEO, commented: “QuantuMDx is pioneering a truly democratising approach to diagnostics which has the potential to make molecular testing affordable and accessible to billions of people globally.

“This kind of early-stage innovation is critical to the future of our industry and Helsinn Investment Fund was set up in order to provide the support that is needed to bring these ideas to market and to patients. We look forward to working closely with the company.”

About Helsinn Investment Fund

The Helsinn Investment Fund is focused on early-stage investments in areas of high unmet patient need. Backed by the Helsinn Group, and guided by Helsinn’s core values of quality, integrity and respect, Helsinn Investment Fund aims to help companies with innovative technologies to transform new ideas into commercial solutions with the potential to impact health-related quality of life of patients.

Drawing on Helsinn’s 40 years of investment into research and development and commercial expertise, the investment fund selects companies with technologies in a range of areas including cancer therapeutics and diagnostics, cancer supportive care, metabolic and gastrointestinal disorders, and dermatology conditions.

For more information, visit www.helsinninvestmentfund.com

About Helsinn Group

Helsinn is a privately owned cancer supportive care pharmaceutical group with an extensive portfolio of marketed products and a broad development pipeline. Since 1976, Helsinn has been improving the everyday lives of patients, guided by core family values of respect, integrity and quality, through a unique integrated licensing business model working with long-standing partners in pharmaceutical, medical device and dietary supplement. Helsinn is headquartered in Lugano, Switzerland, with operating subsidiaries in Ireland and the US (Helsinn Therapeutics), a representative office in China, as well as a product presence in about 90 countries globally.

For more information, please visit www.helsinn.com

About QuantuMDx Group

QuantuMDx Group is a multinational life sciences tools and technology developer delivering diagnostic solutions to address global health inequalities. The company is headquartered in the United Kingdom, with operations and partners in the United States, Asia, Europe and Africa.

The company’s flagship handheld diagnostic laboratory Q-POC™, with its superior testing capabilities and affordable price point, aims to bring the power of precision medicine to health professionals globally, enabling immediate detection of antimicrobial resistance and subsequent ‘right first time prescribing’.

QuantuMDx was co-founded by CEO Elaine Warburton OBE, Inventor and CSO Jonathan O’Halloran and CFO Julian Warburton. Fellow Board members include Chairman Professor Sir John Burn, COO Sam Whitehouse and President of QuantuMDx USA Paul Fitzpatrick. Prof Sanjeev Krishna chairs the Infectious Disease Advisory Committee.

QuantuMDx is a privately owned company with a strong commercial and humanitarian focus.

For more information, please visit www.quantumdx.com

For further information:

Helsinn Group
Paola Bonvicini
Head of Communication & Press Office
+41 91-985-21-21
info-hhc@helsinn.com

Consilium Strategic Communications
Mary-Jane Elliott, Matthew Neal, Jessica Hodgson, Laura Thornton, Cameron Standage
+44 203 709 5700
helsinn@consilium-comms.com

QuantuMDx Group
Lucy Harvey, Marketing Officer
+44 870 803 1234
lucy.harvey@quantumdx.com

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