Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Neuroptix nabs $18.5M in second round

By Mass High Tech Staff

Alzheimer’s disease detection company Neuroptix Corp. has taken in $18.5 million in a Series B round of funding, to help push its diagnostic test toward clinical trials. The round was led by Swiss firm Inventages Venture Capital Investment Inc., with Rockport Venture Partners acting as the financial advisor.

Acton-based Neuroptix plans to identify the presence of Alzheimer’s disease in its early stages through a non-invasive eye test, the Neuroptix Sapphire diagnostic platform. The system consists of a non-contact laser-based optical device combined with an eye drop which identifies Alzheimer’s-related proteins found in the lens of the eye.

In January 2007, Neuroptix closed on a scant $1.6 million in its Series A round, led by Boston’s Launchpad Venture Group, with Maine Angels, Switzerland’s Quan Ventures and a group of international investors. A year prior, the company took in $500,000 from angels as a seed round.

Neuroptix entered into a deal to provide New Jersey-based Merck & Co. Inc. with its technology in December 2006, and received a $1 million payment from the drug maker in July of 2007.

Inventages has invested in local companies like Food Quality Sensor International Inc. of Lexington, and Taunton-based ice cream technology company MooBella LLC.