OCEAN Dx, specialized in in vitro diagnostics for infectious diseases, has announced closure of its initial round of fundraising from Bpifrance and the AJYL business angels (also the leading investors in startups Treefrog Therapeutics and Toopi Organics). The money will enable OCEAN Dx to build up its R&D teams and accelerate development of its rapid sepsis diagnosis test chiefly through a joint clinical study with the University Hospital of Bordeaux.
This adds to the 2020 financial contributions: aid from the “Jeunes Pousses” startup program in France’s Nouvelle-Aquitaine region; awards for the i-Lab Competition and the i-Nov. Competition.
A COMPANY SERVING PUBLIC HEALTH
OCEAN Dx was founded by Franck Tarendeau and Cyril Dian, experienced researchers from the in vitro diagnostics (bioMérieux) and vaccine (Imaxio-Osivax) industries. Their startup is developing innovative diagnostic solutions targeting infectious diseases, particularly sepsis*, but also pneumonia, meningitis and Lyme disease. Sepsis kills six million people worldwide every year, including 30,000 in France, and generates high healthcare spending (€1.5 billion in France and $24 billion in the US).
The global market for a rapid sepsis diagnosis test is estimated at €8.4 billion.
OCEAN Dx builds on its disruptive technologies, offering revolutionary diagnostic tests to manage patients with infectious diseases where diagnostic requirements are extreme: short response time, broad detection spectrum and high sensitivity. The aim of the OCEAN Dx sepsis diagnostic test is to identify the infection-causing pathogens within hours and steer doctors to the right antibiotic strategy without delay.
“With this new test, mortality from sepsis will drop from the current rate of 35% to just 5%, which amounts to 20,000 lives saved each year in France and millions of lives worldwide. Our solution will improve antibiotic management and thus prevent proliferation of multidrug-resistant bacterial strains. By allowing doctors to target the proper treatment when symptoms first appear, our test will ultimately limit bed occupancy time in hospitals and thereby reduce healthcare costs” according to Franck Tarendeau, CEO of OCEAN Dx.
OCEAN Dx will commercialize its tests in France and internationally by 2026.
“We are particularly grateful to the AJYL business angel group and Bpifrance for their confidence in our project. The funds will help us to strengthen our R&D teams and conduct a clinical study on 100 patients in fall 2023 in collaboration with Dr. Antoine Dewitte of Bordeaux University Hospital (Haut-Lévêque Hospital). We would also like to thank Unitec for their unwavering support since the creation of our company,” Mr. Tarendeau concluded.
* Sepsis, formerly called septicemia, is a condition in which the body’s response to a generalized infection from a pathogen present in the blood causes injury to organs and tissues, possibly leading to death.
ABOUT OCEAN Dx
Created in 2019, OCEAN Dx is a Bordeaux startup specializing in in vitro diagnostics of infectious diseases. Its head office are located at SEML Route des lasers, Bâtiment Pleione, 11 Avenue de Canteranne in Pessac, France. OCEAN Dx is a deep tech company in the field of healthcare. Its scientific council is composed of intensive care specialists, including members of CRICS-TRIGGERSEP, a French network of hospital clinical research centers dedicated to sepsis.
The company the winner of the i-Lab 2020 Competition and the i-Nov 2020 Competition.
ABOUT UNITEC
Unitec is one of the main startup consulting agencies in the Bordeaux region of France. It has helped create 632 startups in France, including Amplitude Systèmes, Yescapa, TreeFrog Therapeutics, Satelia, Olikrom, Toopi organics, and Gouach. With a team of 11 startup managers, Unitec advises companies in three areas—digital, life sciences, engineering sciences—by providing consultation from the idea phase to creation of the company (incubation), on its structure and development (creation/seed), strategic growth (development), and scaling up via the French startup accelerator UP GRADE Nouvelle-Aquitaine. In 2022, Unitec supported 156 startups and posted a sustainability rate of 86% of companies monitored over five years.
