aMoon leads round to expand product portfolio and advance commercial efforts for MOBILion's SLIM technology for biotherapeutics characterization and novel biomarker discovery.
CHADDS FORD, Pa. - MOBILion Systems, Inc., a pioneer in fast, efficient, high- resolution instrumentation for biomarker discovery, diagnostics and therapeutic development, today announced a $35 million Series B funding round. The oversubscribed round was led by aMoon, with the remaining funds contributed by existing investors, including Agilent Technologies (NYSE: A), IP Group, Hostplus and Cultivation Capital.
MOBILion intends to use the funds to build the commercial team supporting the launch of the company's first product based on the patented ion mobility separations technology, called Structures for Lossless Ion Manipulation (SLIM). MOBILion's SLIM technology rapidly and efficiently separates, identifies and analyzes even the most challenging, clinically significant molecules that other instruments fail to detect, enabling earlier disease detection, improved diagnostic accuracy and treatment options, along with reduced healthcare costs. It delivers unprecedented high-resolution, high-throughput analysis for the pharmaceutical industry and clinical researchers, significantly enhancing the characterization of protein-based biotherapeutics and accelerating biomarker discovery. Additionally, the Company plans to expand the development of its product portfolio for pharma QC and diagnostic applications.
In a very short time the company achieved all of its Series A milestones and earned a strong market response for its first product, which launched to select beta users in July 2020, and was offered to customers via sample analysis collaborations in MOBILion's applications laboratory. The product will be fully launched in North America in 2021. Pharmaceutical customers are using SLIM to address deficiencies in characterization of biologic therapeutics, specifically for glycan analysis, peptide mapping, intact, and subunit protein analysis, which are critical quality assays that remain challenging or impossible to adequately achieve with existing liquid-chromatography mass spectrometry workflows.
MOBILion's patented product is being employed for glycan characterization of the spike protein that decorates the surface of COVID-19 (SARSCoV2) and its interaction with the host cell receptor angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). The glycan analysis of COVID-19 could add to the understanding of how the virus binds to its target and provide researchers with valuable insights that are essential for the development of an effective treatment.
"We are very excited to have aMoon join our existing community of investors, who collectively share our vision to advance healthcare and improve how we predict, diagnose and treat disease by revealing molecules that other instruments leave unseen," said MOBILion's CEO Melissa Sherman, Ph.D. "We are fueled by the positive feedback related to our beta launch and validation of our first product's capabilities as demonstrated through published accomplishments of our early adopters and industry recognition and awards. This round of financing will augment our sales and marketing efforts and accelerate the development of second-generation products."
"We share a common vision with MOBILion to develop and commercialize breakthrough technologies that offer unparalleled resolution and speed," said Todd Sone, Partner at aMoon who joins MOBILion's board. "MOBILion is our latest in a series of investments in the 'omics' space, and we look forward to supporting Melissa and her outstanding team as they advance large molecule development and novel biomarker discovery."
MOBILion is commercializing SLIM technology-based products that are integrated with several industry-leading mass spectrometry platforms to dramatically advance the capabilities of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) workflows to efficiently reveal previously undetectable molecules. The SLIM technology can be integrated with LC-MS workflows to provide more robust analytical information, and for some applications, can even replace liquid chromatography separations to provide superior resolution, speed, ease of use and greater instrument uptime. MOBILion's first product is integrated with Agilent's high resolution QToF mass spectrometer. MOBILion is also developing an easier to use, operator-simplified stand-alone SLIM product that does not require integration with a mass spectrometer for translation to pharmaceutical quality control and diagnostic laboratories.
About aMoon
aMoon is a global healthtech and life sciences VC fund based in Israel. The fund aims to accelerate cure for life-threatening diseases and reduce major cost-drivers in healthcare, by leveraging the growing convergence of healthcare and technology. Learn more by visiting the website, www.amoon.fund.
CONTACTS
MOBILion Systems
Katie Spruance, 610-291-2649
katie.spruance@mobilionsystems.com
McDAY – Public Relations
Alison Guzzio, 484-459-3243
alisong@mc-day.com
1515 Market St #1200
Philadelphia, PA 19102Media contact for aMoon
Julie Steigerwald
GK for aMoon, +972 54 8360371
julie@gkpr.com
