NEW YORK – Ghent, Belgium-based MyCartis announced today that along with Ghent University it is spinning off a point-of-care testing business and forming a new firm, Antelope Dx.
MyCartis said that Ghent-based RMM and Gooik-based Saffelberg Investments have led the investment of €5.1 million ($5.7 million) in the new company.
MyCartis said it has served as an incubator for the Antelope Dx technology since the middle of last year and that the platform stems from 10 years of research at the Photonics Research Group of Ghent University. Based on lab-on-a-chip technology, the system aims to perform high-quality tests on any bodily fluid, without requiring complex user operations or sample preparation, MyCartis said.
The firm previously told 360Dx that its platform could enable the use of rapid, multiplexed immunoassays in the point-of-care setting but at levels of performance comparable to that provided by a conventional clinical analyzer.
Antelope is developing an at-home test to diagnose Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhea. A second test in development is taking aim at enabling healthcare professionals to determine whether a suspected infection is bacterial, which could help reduce the over-prescription of antibiotics, MyCartis said.
Antelope Dx Founder and COO Jan-Willem Hoste said in a statement that the firm will "target decentralized settings where immediate information on health parameters is needed." He said that the firm "can make a big difference" in enabling "home-management of chronic diseases" and that it is seeking to deploy tests in retail clinics and doctors' offices.
Antelope Dx is located in a life science incubator, Bioscape, in Ghent-Zwijnaarde and employs about 15 people.