Edinburgh Molecular Imaging gets more than $6M in funding for optical innovation

The Scottish developer of optical molecular imaging technology, Edinburgh Molecular Imaging, has received venture capital funding amounting to more than $6 million, the University of Edinburgh announced Feb 7.

The investment is coming from sizeable contributions from international life science venture capital fund Epidarex Capital, as well as funding from the Scottish Investment Bank. The developer is a spin-out of Edinburgh Bioquarterly from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

The newly funded technology in development involves fluorescent imaging reagents for the detection of lung disease at high resolution, in real-time and “at the bedside.” Current applications for the new optical technology involve detection of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), lung cancer, fibrosis and lung infection.

“As respiratory clinicians, we are faced with diagnostic uncertainty on a daily basis and we have few means in our current practice to rapidly and accurately diagnose, monitor and treat many pulmonary conditions,” said Kev Dhaliwal, co-founder of Edinburgh Molecular Imaging in a statement from the University. “Over the past five years, we have been developing know-how and expertise in optical molecular imaging at the University of Edinburgh to overcome these hurdles. The investment by Epidarex Capital in Edinburgh Molecular Imaging heralds an important landmark in the journey of taking our concepts and research from the bench to the bedside and ultimately to improve patient care.”

The focus on lung disease is thought to be able to expand in time to incorporate a wider range of clinical applications for the technology.