Pepric, a spin-off of imec, successfully concluded a EURO 1.4 million capital round.

01-30-2012: Pepric, a spin-off of imec, successfully concluded a EURO 1.4 million capital round. Pepric develops and commercializes equipment for quantitative molecular detection and imaging to monitor biological processes evolving slowly over time.

In other words, Pepric will develop equipment similar to PET or SPECT scanners to monitor processes evolving slowly over several days or weeks within the body. Infectious diseases are an example of such processes, or cell therapies for which it can take a few weeks before sufficient cells have migrated to the target tissue.

For slow biological processes, for example when monitoring cell migration it is possible to locate the cells, however it remains difficult to determine the amount of cells having reached the target tissue. Pepric’s sensitive tools will allow pre-clinical centres to evaluate the efficacy of new therapies and to perform early diagnosis.

The investment of 1.4 million euro will support the production and commercialization of Pepric’s first product: the analysis tool for quantitative molecular and cellular detection in tissue, urine and blood samples. Furthermore it will enable Pepric to develop its core technology towards detection and imaging within the body (‘in-vivo’).

An important part of this capital round was financed with means form SOFI, the Spin-Off Financing Instrument being created to support spinoffs from the four Flemish Strategic Research Centres (IBBT, imec, VIB en VITO). SOFI has been launched by the Flemish minister of Innovation, Mrs. Ingrid Lieten, and is managed by PMV. Also FIDIMEC, the spin-off investment vehicle of imec, participated in this round.