Key points from article :
Owlstone Medical raised $58 million to support its efforts in the field of breath biopsy.
Series D funding brings the total venture capital haul to over $150 million.
Funds to accelerate projects focused on lung cancer, liver diseases and respiratory conditions.
Other offerings under development include measures of gut function and food intolerance.
Its first commercial breath biopsy panel, launched this January, distinguishes various chronic inflammatory airway conditions.
A clinical study showed Owlstone’s devices could work as noninvasive diagnostic tests for nonalcoholic liver diseases.
It did so by not just passively collecting breaths but by giving the body something to chew on and seeing how it responds.
Using food additive as a chemical probe, limonene, Owlstone found that people with liver cancer or cirrhosis were unable to sufficiently metabolize and clear out the compound.
Probe-based approach could also be applied to areas such as lung cancer, said Owlstone co-founder and CEO Billy Boyle.
