Israel’s venture capital firm Pitango has raised $175 million for a new fund focused on backing entrepreneurs leveraging data science, artificial intelligence (AI), medical devices and novel biology to transform health care. Pitango Healthtech II is the firm’s second fund dedicated to health care and will see investment go into 15 companies ranging from those at the seed stage to those wanting commercial stage investment.
Nevia Bio Ltd. (formerly Gina Life Ltd.) completed a $3.1 million seed round that will allow the company, which has developed a platform that can decode biomarkers data from vaginal secretions for the early detection of ovarian cancer, to conduct clinical trials. With ovarian cancer the leading cause of death in women diagnosed with gynecological cancers, Nevia is hoping that its platform will save many lives.
Babson Diagnostics Inc. has line of sight for the commercial launch of its Betterway blood testing ecosystem, which is a less invasive way of taking blood and requires only one-tenth of the sample volume of venipuncture without sacrificing quality or accuracy. The company said that once the collection device developed in partnership with Becton Dickinson & Co. (BD) is cleared by the U.S. FDA, Betterway will be launched in Texas, where it already has established partnerships with retailers and where its commercial lab is up and running. In addition, Babson has fully validated a broad set of miniaturized assays that are ready for commercial processing in its CLIA-certified, CAP accredited laboratory.