Owlstone: US$59m for breath biopsy development

Cambridge-based breath biopsy specialist Owlstone Medical has closed its Series D financing round with US$59m, exceeding its initial target of US$50m. Leading the investor group was Horizons Ventures, which will also take a seat on Owlstone Medical’s Board. Owlstone will use the prodeeds to accelerate the development and commercialisation of its diagnostic tests for lung cancer, liver disease and respiratory disease. The company will also advance its Breath Biopsy platform. With Breath Biopsy, Owlstone Medical has developed a unique proprietary breath biopsy platform capable of both use in routine diagnostic testing and in biomarker discovery.

“Accurate biomarkers collected non-invasively will be important screening and diagnostic tools for the future of healthcare”, commented Patrick Zhang, Horizons Ventures. “We are excited that Owlstone Medical’s transformative Breath Biopsy technology will be the basis for development of a set of important biomarkers that could gauge and safeguard our health painlessly and effectively.”