Pictor, a global leader in immunodiagnostics, has announced a $5 million funding round to help accelerate pipeline product development projects.
The company will also use the funding for market development activities within Australia and New Zealand, the U.S. and Europe for its human health and animal health portfolios.
This follows a June funding round raising $8.8 million when the biotech company announced it had received confirmation of CE registration for its PictArray SARS-CoV-2 IgG enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) antibody test as per in vitro diagnostic directive (IVDD) regulations.
CE registration confirmed for Pictor
“The test better informs patients and doctors in determining whether the patient should be immunized or boosted,” said Pictor’s chief medical officer Tadd Lazarus, at the time.
Two key different approaches – testing for multiple diseases or testing for different stages/multiple markers of a disease, are provided by Pictor’s multiplex technology – all within a single ELISA. This can provide both greater sensitivity (accuracy), higher throughput and cost efficiencies.
Pictor’s current focus within the human space is expanding access to its highly accurate tests for Covid-19 antibodies and accelerating the development of its test for tropical fevers. Pictor has also leveraged its multiplex platform to develop an animal health business and is poised to launch two tests in the second quarter of next year (2023).
More effective dairy and beef herd management
The PictArray Mycoplasma bovis (M. bovis) and PictArray Johne’s disease tests, developed with support from the Ministry for Primary Industries’ Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures fund, will enable more accurate and effective dairy and beef herd management both in New Zealand and internationally.
In announcing the financing, Pictor CEO, Howard Moore, said: “This funding round provides a potential opportunity for investors to realize a significant increase in value through the near-term commercialization of our current pipeline, along with acceleration of future product development projects.”
Former Morrison & Co. CEO Marko Bogoievski is helping lead the current funding round following his investment and involvement in Pictor since early 2022.
Pictor’s patented multiplexed platform
Pictor is an in vitro diagnostics company that offers a patented multiplexed platform for highly accurate and efficient testing of complex and infectious diseases for human and animal health.
PictArray multiplexed technology makes it possible to test multiple disease markers in a single test simultaneously — with higher sensitivity, faster throughput, and reduced turn-around time.
The company’s lead product, the PictArray SARS-CoV-2 IgG ELISA Kit, enables more informed clinical intervention to manage the threat of Covid-19.