OrganOx closes series D

OrganOx, a spin-out of Oxford University’s Institute of Biomedical Engineering (IBME) and late-stage medical device company focused on increasing the quality and supply of organs for transplantation, has closed its series D. This latest funding round was, as with previous rounds, oversubscribed and included both new and existing subscribers. The amount remains, as with series A, B and C, undisclosed. 

Isis Innovation, the university’s technology transfer company, initially managed the project and early experiments were funded by the Oxford University Challenge Seed Fund. A consortium of five investors then provided £1.5m ($2.5m) to establish the company in 2008. Investors in the company have included Oxford Technology Management, Technikos, a London-based venture capital fund specialising in medical technology with a long-term commercial partnership with IBME, and the Royal Society.

OrganOx celebrated its first success in 2013 when its technology was used to keep a liver transplant at body temperature and was successfully transplanted into a 62-year-old patient at King’s College Hospital. Liver transplants are usually kept on ice, which often results in damage to the organ.

Dr Les Russell, CEO of OrganOx, said: “We are delighted at the level of support shown by our current investors and offer a very warm welcome to our new investors. Following the completion of the recruitment of all the patients in our first clinical study, we are now preparing for our major COPE (Consortium for Organ Preservation in Europe) clinical study starting shortly and funded with support from the European Union. The new funding will allow us to gear up in preparation for our commercial product launch later in the year once we have secured the CE Mark.”