Sight Diagnostics (SightDX), a portfolio company of Anatomy, Clal Biotechnology’s investment fund for medical devices, had raised $28 million. When the round is completed, Anatomy’s stake in Sight Diagnostics will be 7%. Clal Biotechnology holds 50% of Anatomy.
The SightDx Parasight Malaria Detection Platform analyses blood samples and provides a diagnostic result within only four minutes! The device also provides information on the species of the infecting malarial parasites and provides information that may be used by clinicians to aid in determining the severity of the illness.
Sight Diagnostics was founded in 2010 by CEO Yossi Pollak, a former project manager at Mobileye, and Daniel Levner. Pollak previously told “Globes,” We wanted to take the field of machine vision and apply it to health, specifically blood tests. After a year in the garage, we managed to persuade Israeli millionaire Moshe Yanai to invest $3 million in us, and that’s how the company officially began.”
In the first stage, the test is nevertheless carried out in a central laboratory. Simultaneously with the launch, the company also began a clinical trial in the US market in order to replace its approval under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA), a special approval for laboratory tests that ties the company to a single laboratory, with approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which will make it possible to carry out the test in any laboratory, or outside the laboratory. Sight Diagnostics has already conducted a clinical trial on 247 patients at Shaare Zedek Medical Center, which enabled the company to obtain CE approval for marketing in Europe.
Pollak explained that a blood count is one of the tests that is especially difficult to carry out. The company may develop more tests on the same device later.
Sight Diagnostics already collaborates with BD (Becton, Dickinson & Company) on introducing the ‘Parasight’ Malaria Detection Platform in India.
About Sight Diagnostics
Sight Diagnostics has developed a groundbreaking platform for blood analysis and infectious disease diagnostics based on its innovations in Computer Vision technology. Sight Diagnostics’ platform builds on breakthroughs in sample preparation, biological staining, machine-vision algorithms, and clinical instrumentation, to provide a complete diagnostic solution that is suitable for point-of-care use. Sight Diagnostics’ first product, the Parasight Malaria Detection Platform, identifies, enumerates, and speciates malarial parasites more accurately than currently used diagnostic methods. In the future, the technology will detect additional pathogens and blood anomalies. For more information, please visit www.sightdx.com
Source – Globes https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-sight-diagnostics-raises-28m-1001265977
