Kypha Secures $4 Million Series A Funding to Accelerate Commercialization of Leading Diagnostic Platform

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned that Kypha, a startup dedicated to developing medical diagnostic tools, announced on December 20, 2018, the completion of its Series A financing round, which raised $4 million. Led by St. Louis-based venture capital firm Arsenal Capital Management (ACM), this marks Kypha’s third funding round. Kypha plans to use the proceeds to expand its recently acquired operations in Ireland and support the commercialization of new products.

Image source: Kypha's official website

Kypha is an early-stage life sciences company primarily developing cutting-edge technologies and clinically useful products to improve the monitoring and treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Kypha has a core team of nine members, as well as an extensive network of scientific advisors, clinical collaborators, and commercial mentors. Since 2011, Kypha has raised over $3 million in private capital, leveraging federal grants, to advance its flagship diagnostic product, Comp Act Dx, and submitted an application for FDA approval and commercial launch in early 2014. Comp Act Dx is a simple yet revolutionary test that rapidly measures bodily inflammation levels—such as those caused by trauma or autoimmune diseases—with unprecedented speed and accuracy. By measuring changes in inflammation in near real-time, Comp Act Dx aims to enable better monitoring of high-risk patients, thereby helping healthcare professionals make earlier and more effective clinical intervention decisions.

Currently, Kypha is developing specialized biomarker testing solutions for monitoring immune status and inflammation. Company leaders stated that the new funding will be partially used to integrate and expand the production capacity of its subsidiary, Biosensia, and its facility in Dublin, Ireland. In addition, the Series A financing will support the commercial launch of new Kypha tests and broaden partnerships with pharmaceutical companies. Company leaders believe that improving and increasing the frequency of monitoring complement and immune activity helps accelerate and enhance the accuracy of treatment decisions.

“Kypha has changed significantly over the past year through the acquisition of Biosensia and the explosive growth in the complementary therapy market,” said Chad Stiening, CEO of Kypha, in a statement. “Built on eight years of technological innovation and a deep understanding of clinical workflows, we are pleased to secure additional funding to support our commercial and strategic partnership goals, delivering critical companion diagnostic and immune monitoring solutions for drug developers, patients, providers, and payers. Together, we can ensure the accuracy of early detection and the cost-effectiveness of diagnostics, enabling faster treatment, optimization, and improved management of many lifelong immune-mediated conditions,” Stiening said.

According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Kypha raised $950,000 from an unnamed equity investor in late July. Stiening clarified at the time that the SEC filing pertained to the acquisition of Biosensia earlier that month. Regulatory filings show that in May, Kypha raised $1.6 million from 13 investors as part of a $4 million financing round.

Image source: Kypha's official website

Arsenal Capital Management is a venture capital firm headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. It delivers superior investment returns to investors by identifying early-stage capital opportunities within transparent, focused, and cost-efficient fund structures. To date, Arsenal Capital Management has completed nine investments.

Biosensia, a wholly owned subsidiary of Kypha in Dublin, Ireland, is a science and engineering-focused company with a newly licensed point-of-care platform, RapiPlex. RapiPlex integrates highly innovative technologies to deliver a practical, rapid, multiplexed point-of-care (POC) in vitro diagnostic (IVD) platform, enabling access to a broad range of diagnostic applications.