Diadem SpA, a company developing the first blood-based test for the early prediction of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), announced the closing of the first tranche of a €10 million equity financing. The financing round is led by new investor CDP Venture Capital and existing investor Panakès Partners. The new funding follows the announcement earlier this month by Diadem and the European Investment Bank (EIB) that EIB has granted Diadem a €7.5 million venture loan.
Diadem will use the new funding to continue the global commercialisation and further clinical validation of its non-invasive biomarker blood test that can identify with high accuracy whether individuals over the age of 50 with signs of cognitive impairment will or will not progress to Alzheimer’s disease up to six years before definitive symptoms are apparent. Its utility is supported by clinical data from a large longitudinal study that was the basis for AlzoSure® Predict’s recently gaining a CE-IVD mark and a Breakthrough Device designation from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration.
“Diadem is an excellent example of innovative enterprise: a unique technology, developed at the University of Brescia, an advanced research center, and offering the opportunity of intervening in the very early stages of the pathological process, when the chances of success of the intervention are greater,” comments Enrico Resmini, CEO and General Manager of CDP Venture Capital. “We are very satisfied with our investment in Diadem, which also meets our criteria of social impact and stimulation of research in the life sciences sector.”
Diana Saraceni, Founder and Managing Partner of Panakes Partners, said, “We are delighted to renew our investment in Diadem, whose revolutionary technology has the potential to transform the management of Alzheimer’s disease, a devastating condition with enormous costs to the individual and to society. Diadem has made great progress in advancing its AlzoSure technology since our initial investment, generating robust validating clinical data, developing a commercial grade product, obtaining important certifications and awards, and building a foundation for successful global commercialisation in concert with strategic partners. It has emerged as a leader in the important field of novel biomarker diagnostics, and we are proud to co-lead this financing round.”
“We welcome the support of these eminent venture capital groups, who share our vision of a world in which early signs of cognitive impairment are a call to action, not a death sentence,” said Dr. Gerald Möller, Chairman of the Board of Diadem. “Under Paul Kinnon’s exceptional leadership, Diadem will use the funds to further expand the company’s global organisation to support our unique prognostic assay that could revolutionize the Alzheimer’s field. This funding in conjunction with the recently announced EIB loan agreement will provide Diadem with the capital to support the company as it commercialises AlzoSure® Predict and builds a successful global enterprise.”
About Diadem
Diadem was founded as a spin-out of the University of Brescia (Italy). The company is developing the first blood-based prognostic test for the early detection of dementia, with a focus on Alzheimer’s disease. The lack of accurate, accessible and affordable diagnostic tools is a major contributor to the absence of effective treatments for this devastating condition. As a result, patients are not diagnosed until late in the illness, when effective treatment is no longer possible. Diadem’s rapid, accurate and cost-effective blood-based prognostic test makes it possible for the first time to identify patients early in the disease process, when effective interventions and better outcomes are far more feasible. The utility of the approach has been demonstrated in longitudinal clinical studies that were the basis for awarding CE-IVD marking in the EU and a Breakthrough Device designation in the US. Additional retrospective and prospective clinical trials are ongoing to further validate clinical claims and support widespread adoption and use. Diadem is also developing AlzoSure® Confirm, a blood-based diagnostic test for AD that has shown promising results in early studies. Diadem’s founding lead investor is Milan-based Panakes Partners, a venture capital firm that finances promising high potential biomedical companies in Europe and Israel. Diadem is preparing for commercialization of AlzoSure® Predict in collaboration with global strategic partners.
For more information, visit www.diademdx.com/.