Cormac Kilty, the healthcare entrepreneur who sold Biotrin for €25 million last year, has raised €1.5 million for Argutus Medical. Dr Kilty is now focusing on Argutus Medical, which was spun out of Biotrin at the time of the buyout by Italian firm Diasorin last July. The new company specialises in so-called biomarkers, which are used to detect damage to human organs, particularly the kidneys.

Dr Kilty said that the company started operations with six staff, but now had about 15 employees and expected to have 20 by the end of this year. Argutus will have revenues of between €1.5 million and €2 million this year, and is investing heavily in research and development and manufacturing. The sales so far have been to pharmaceutical companies, which use Argutus products to monitor possible side-effects of trial drugs that are being tested in humans. However, the company’s ultimate focus is on developing an instrument to monitor the kidneys in real time, particularly in diabetics or people who have had heart surgery.

‘‘We have finished preliminary trials and expect to have a point-of-care instrument within 36 months,” said Kilty. ‘‘We have enough money to get to prototype stage, and we have a number of partners interested in working with us.” He said that Argutus had unique intellectual property, and that its product could become the standard for diagnosing and monitoring acute kidney injury. He added that the clinical market being targeted by Argutus was worth about €1 billion.

Dr Kilty set up Biotrin in 1992, and the company developed tests for the detection of viruses. The company grew to revenues of more than €10 million a year before being bought by Diasorin last July. Dr Kilty owned almost 70 per cent of the firm at the time of the deal. He said he would step down as chief executive of Biotrin on July 1 to focus on Argutus. He is also chairman of drug firm Opsona Therapeutics, which has just raised €18 million in funds.

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