Biotechnologies Funding
Biotech startup Kryptos Biotechnologies announced on March 28th that they have raised $10 million in Series A financing led by Osang Healthcare, a leading medical device company based out of South Korea that specializes in diagnostic biosensors and diagnostic assays – to further develop Kryptos’s flagship point-of-care molecular diagnostics system KuickTM. The funding will help advance the clinical study of the respiratory combo tests, which in turn will help receive FDA approval by 2025. Along with the financing, the company has entered into a strategic partnership with Osang Healthcare for the manufacturing and distribution of its product.
Jinyong Lee, CEO and Co-founder of Kryptos Biotechnologies
“We are thrilled to receive the trust and support of our strategic partner Osang Healthcare. This financing validates our commitment to fulfill the demand for point-of-care molecular diagnostics that is growing rapidly globally.”
Point-of-Care-Testing
Requires comprehensive requirements in accuracy, speed, cost, and usability, and we are confident that the unique advantages of the Kuick system will satisfy those aspects.” Noted by Jun Ho Son, CTO and Co-founder of Kryptos Biotechnologies.
Ultrafast Photonic PCR
Using its core technology called Photothermal Heating, which creates heat by using light that generates heat and controls the temperature precisely, Kryptos developed a new PCR technology called Ultrafast Photonic PCR. Combining the Ultrafast Photonic PCR with a fully integrated sample preparation workflow, Kryptos designed the sample-to-answer molecular diagnostics system called Kuick. The system delivers a test result in about 20 minutes while ensuring lab-comparable or even better diagnostic results by using solid-phase extraction coupled with multiplexed real-time Ultrafast Photonic PCR in the low-cost disposable cartridge.
The general practice of molecular diagnostics is suboptimal in that it usually takes 1 – 3 days from sample collection to get the result because the test must be done in microbiology labs away from the sample collection site. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for fast point-of-care molecular diagnostics has grown exponentially, but the technology hasn’t changed as rapidly. The Kuick system has been developed to deliver a test result in about 20 minutes by 1 minute of user handling and aims to democratize molecular diagnostics for decentralized clinics, which exist more than 100,000 in the US.
