Russia backs development of domestic chips for blood and plasma testing

A Russian government fund has invested in Semiotik, a Russian developer and producer of new microchips for testing blood and donor plasma

RVC BioFund, a fund set up by Russian Venture Company, and its partners have invested in Semiotik, a Russian developer and producer of new microchips for testing blood and donor plasma, the RVC website announced. How much the fund has put up has yet to be specified; it is known, though, that a total of $6.2m has been invested in this round of funding. The investment will help the company complete the development of the chips and their clinical trials, and set up shop. Semiotik?s inaugural (and flagship) product is a microchip designed to pinpoint pathogens and malignant tumor markers. This version of the chip is expected to help identify up to ten different pathogens at a time and perform oncology diagnostics based on determining tumor-specific antibodies to two types of tumor. Plans are to launch the production line in 2015 somewhere outside Moscow (no specification has been given so far)...