Diagnostic company Qvella raises $20M in series B

Molecular diagnostics company Qvella Corp. (Richmond Hill, Ontario) raised $20 million in a series B round led by existing investors RA Capital, Whitecap Venture Partners, Hatteras Venture and Sands Capital. New investor bioMérieux S.A. (Euronext:BIM) also participated.

The company is planning a clinical trial of its first product for the rapid detection of bloodstream infections directly from whole blood. Qvella's Field Activated Sample Treatment (FAST) technology aims to reduce time to results by enabling direct sampling of bodily fluids without the need for culturing or sample processing...