October 22, 2018

Grifols invests in ultrahigh sensitive disease diagnostic and prognostic technology

Grifols undersigns EUR 2 million of Mecwins' capital increase through Progenika Biopharma, reaching 25% of its capital

  • Grifols undersigns EUR 2 million of Mecwins' capital increase through Progenika Biopharma, reaching 25% of its capital
  • Mecwins is a spin-off of the CSIC (Spanish National Research Council) Institute of Micro and Nanotechnology, dedicated to developing ultrahigh sensitive immunoassays to detect protein biomarkers for potential use in oncology, cardiovascular diseases and infectious diseases
  • The capital injection where CRB Inverbío also participates with EUR 2 million, enables Mecwins to start development on pre-commercial prototypes, while allowing Grifols to take positions in the diagnostic nanotechnology field

Barcelona, October 22, 2018.- Grifols (MCE: GRF, MCE: GRF.P, NASDAQ: GRFS), a leading global healthcare company that improves the health and well-being of patients worldwide by providing plasma-derived proteins for therapeutic use, clinical diagnostic technology and specialty pharmaceuticals for hospital use, today announced its decision to invest EUR 2 million in Mecwins' capital increase through Progenika Biopharma which was already a shareholder of the company. The investment will allow Grifols to take positions in the diagnostic nanotechnology field.

Progenika Biopharma reaches 25% share capital in Mecwins following the transaction.

Mecwins is a spin-off of the CSIC (Spanish National Research Council) Institute of Micro and Nanotechnology, specialized in the development of innovative nanotechnology analytical tools for disease diagnosis and prognosis. Founded in 2008 by Dr. Javier Tamayo and Dr. Montserrat Calleja, Mecwins has developed an ultrahigh sensitive optical reading immunoassay using nanosensors, which is capable of detecting protein biomarkers in the blood. This technology has potential applications in fields such as oncology, cardiovascular diseases and infectious diseases. 

Grifols' and CRB Inverbío investment will allow Mecwins to conduct clinical trials to demonstrate the diagnostic capabilities of this technology, whose sensitivity is a million times higher than that used in routine clinical practice. This enhanced capacity would allow to recognize biomarkers from a single droplet of blood, enabling healthcare professionals to detect diseases early on, such as HIV, early recurrence of prostate cancer after surgery, and myocardial ischemia, among others. Thanks to early diagnosis, these diseases could be treated at very initial stages.

In addition to Progenika Biopharma, Masela Inversiones and the capital risk firm CRB Inverbio, through its investment vehicle CRB Bio II, also hold shares in Mecwins.

Osborne Clarke, S.L.P. acted as legal adviser for the transaction.