Staff Writer

OpGen Inc. pulled in $23.6 million in its first major venture capital round and plans to use those funds to take its Optical Mapping DNA analysis technology into commercial markets.

Since being founded in 2001 based on technology licensed from the University of Wisconsin, OpGen has been operating as a service business, using the technology to identify and analyze microorganisms from samples sent by organizations across the world. Using the Optical Mapping platform, OpGen can obtain detailed genetic information and compile data in areas such as comparative genomics and genome sequence assembly. The system can perform its single molecule DNA analysis without the need for prior sequence data, PCR, cloning or probe, allowing for rapid data return.

With the recent financing, however, the Madison, Wis.-based firm intends to transform from a service-based business to a commercial business. OpGen will take its Optical Mapping technology and develop a line of disposable commercial instrumentation systems, targeting its "short-term efforts on the hospital clinic microbiology labs," said Colin Dykes, chief scientific officer.

Labs testing samples from hospitalized patients using existing methods "have to plate and have to culture" microorganisms, a process that "typically takes two to three days," Dykes told BioWorld Today. With OpGen's technology, "we can break cells open and look at the DNA directly."

In addition to speed, it offers the further advantage of providing "much more precise identification," he added. While current methods can identify bacteria, OpGen's system can zoom in to differentiate between strains and substrains. For example, it can identify whether a patient with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has the particularly nasty USA400 strain. That will allow doctors "to aggressively treat the infection from the word go," Dykes said.

Upon successful commercialization of its technology, OpGen would enter the growing diagnostics market, namely the microbiology automated instrumentation space dominated by bioMerieux SA, of Marcy l'Etoile, France.

The Optical Mapping system also has potential in other areas, and already has found use in forensic microbiology. The precision of its comparative genomic analysis "makes it easier to trace the origin of infection," Dykes said. The technology was used in last year's E. coli outbreak linked to contaminated spinach, where it showed that patients who contracted the bacteria "had the same pattern of markers." With that, "we were able to trace [the outbreak] to one source."

Funds from the Series A round are expected to carry the company for about two years, getting "us close to product launch" with its commercial diagnostics, Dykes said.

Stamford, Conn-based CHL Medical Partners, Boston-based Highland Capital Partners and Menlo Park, Calif.-based Versant Ventures led the round, with participation from existing investor Mason Wells, of Milwaukee. Ron Lennox, of CHL, was named chairman of OpGen's board, while Corey Mulloy and Bijan Salehizadeh, both of Highland, and Brian Atwood, of Versant, all were named as directors.

In other financings news:

• Prana Biotechnology Ltd., of Melbourne, Australia, raised A$7 million (US$5.9 million) through a private placement of about 24.6 million shares priced at A28.5 cents apiece, with a 2 for 6 free attaching option. Those funds primarily will be used to support ongoing development of the company's lead compound, PBT2, which is in a Phase IIa trial in Alzheimer's disease patients. More than 70 percent of patients in the study have been dosed and Prana expects the trial to be completed in December, with results available in the first quarter of 2008. New York-based Brimberg & Co. assisted Prana with the transaction. Shares of Prana remained unchanged on the Australian exchange (ASX:PBT) closing at A30cents, and in the U.S. the stock (NASDAQ:PRAN) fell 12 cents to close Wednesday at $2.40.

• Vital Therapies Inc., of San Diego, completed a $28.1 million Series C financing to support continued development of ELAD, a human cell-based artificial liver. ELAD (extracorporeal liver assist device) is designed to provide metabolic support for patients with liver failure by enabling a bridge-to-transplant or recovery. Pivotal trials at two Chinese hospitals have confirmed that the product has promise in serious, acute liver failure. The financing was led by Versant Ventures and included participation by Delphi Ventures, HBM BioMed China, DFJ DragonFund China, MedVenture Associates, Valley Ventures, Toucan Capital and Heights Capital. Ross Jaffe, of Versant, joined VTI's board.