Qvella Secures $20 Million in Series B Funding to Advance Clinical Trials and Expand Team

In the early hours of December 5, 2017, Qvella, a leading Canadian molecular diagnostics company, announced the completion of its $20 million Series B financing round. The round was co-led by existing investors RA Capital, Whitecap Venture Partners, Hatteras Ventures, and Sands Capital, with new participation from bioMérieux, a world-leading investment institution in the field of in vitro diagnostics.

The funds raised in this financing round will be used to support clinical studies, ongoing research and development projects, team expansion, and production scale-up. Meanwhile, Frédéric Sweeney, Vice President of bioMérieux, will also join the company’s Board of Directors.

Qvella was founded in 2009 by a group of scientists and engineers with the aim of improving healthcare through rapid, low-cost pathogen detection.

Co-founder Dr. Tino Alavie earned his degree from the Florida Institute of Technology. Prior to founding Qvella, Alavie established NOVX, a medical device company, in 2001. NOVX primarily focused on physician tools, such as diagnostic solutions and electronic medical record (EMR) management.

Furthermore, Alavie is the co-founder and president of Electro Photonics, a pioneer in the field of fiber-optic sensors. Electro Photonics underwent two rounds of private equity financing and was acquired by E-TEK Dynamics in June 1999.

Co-Founder and Vice President Robert Maaskant brings extensive and successful experience in technology and product development. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Waterloo and subsequently served as a Research Assistant at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies. Maaskant was also one of the founding members of Electro Photonics, where he led the team in developing a series of fiber-optic products.

In 2003, Maaskant joined NOVX as Vice President of Engineering, where he oversaw the development of iMDx, a drug discovery and screening system. Currently, Maaskant plays a pivotal role in Qvella’s multiple breakthrough pathogen detection technologies and holds numerous patents related to fiber-optic devices and diagnostic systems.

Co-founder and Chief Scientist Samad Talebpour graduated from Laval University and previously served as a chemical physicist at the National Research Council of Canada. Talebpour was also one of the founding members of NOVX.

Infectious diseases pose a major threat to human health. The mortality caused by infectious diseases far exceeds the impact of human wars. The advent of antibiotics has, to some extent, alleviated this threat. However, precisely because of this, people’s overreliance on antibiotic drugs over the past few decades has increasingly diminished the efficacy of these once “life-saving” medications against diseases.

Taking penicillin as an example, in the 1960s, infections could be treated with just a few dozen units of penicillin. Today, however, doses of millions of units of the same drug often fail to cure the same conditions. In the 1960s, approximately seven million people died from infectious diseases; in the current century, that number has risen to twenty million.

The rampant misuse of antibiotics has catalyzed the emergence of superbugs with extensive drug resistance, thereby escalating the threat posed by infectious pathogens to human health. Consequently, curbing antibiotic abuse represents a formidable challenge facing global society. Failure to effectively control this issue could result in economic losses exceeding $100 trillion over the coming decades.

Qvella aims to assist clinicians in their diagnostic decision-making through rapid, low-cost testing, thereby enabling precise and minimized use of antibiotics.

Qvella’s core technology is the FAST™ (Field Activated Sample Treatment) platform, which automates sample processing within a sealed test cartridge. By employing an electrolysis and sample activation technique, it enables direct centrifugal separation and electrolysis of pathogen cells.

As a result, Qvella enables pathogen detection based on blood samples, eliminating the need for complex and cumbersome traditional nucleic acid extraction and purification processes.

“The misuse of antimicrobial drugs poses a major threat to human health, and Qvella’s technology can address these issues,” said Alavie.

With the implementation of Antibiotic Stewardship Programs, an increasing number of medical centers and clinical institutions are focusing on and curbing the use of antibiotics. Rapid clinical diagnostic technologies can help physicians make timely decisions, improve patient outcomes, and thereby reduce hospital stays.

“Both side effects and treatment costs will decrease,” Alavie further stated. “We believe that Qvella will bring disruption to the healthcare industry.”

The company completed its $20 million Series A financing round in 2015. According to Alavie, the company has achieved multiple technological breakthroughs over the past two years.

Following the Series B financing, clinical trials for Qvella's first product are set to commence.New InvestorsbioMérieux alsobased onFAST™）The platform collaborates with the company to identify opportunities for synergy.