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OMRON Invests in Visby Medical, Inc.

  • June 6, 2022

OMRON VENTURES CO., LTD. (HQ: Minato-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Tomoko Inoue; hereinafter, “OVC”)is pleased to announce that it has made an investment in Visby Medical, Inc. (HQ: California, United States; CEO: Adam de la Zerda; hereinafter, “Visby Medical”), which develops and sells the world’s first disposable portable PCR testing devices. This is the first investment made from the OVC II Investment Limited Partnershipthat OMRON established on January 31, 2022.

PCR tests have garnered attention recently in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. They allow high-precision test results to be obtained from extremely small samples and thus are used in testing for many different infectious diseases. However, the number of medical institutions that can perform accurate PCR tests is limited, and factors such as high equipment costs and difficulties in recruiting clinical technicians drive most institutions to outsource their clinical testing to private sector labs. This means they can face delays in receiving test results. Meanwhile, negative attitudes to infectious diseases, lack of knowledge of where to seek help, and other factors discourage patients from seeking preventative testing, and infectious diseases continue to spread.

To tackle these problems, Visby Medical has developed a portable PCR device offering accuracy of 95% or above, which is equivalent to lab-based testing. This PCR device was the first in the world to cleared by FDA and go on sale, allowing patients to obtain accurate PCR testing at their local clinics. In the future, patients will be able to purchase the device at retail outlets such as pharmacies, collect samples, and obtain results for themselves. This is expected to revolutionize the infectious disease testing process and expand the use of preventative testing.
Adam de la Zerda, the Founder and CEO of Visby Medical, Inc., said, "Visby Medical began with a vision to revolutionize patient care with fast PCR diagnostics that anyone can use to test for any infection anywhere at any time, and our Sexual Health Click Test is the first step on that journey. We are grateful and humbled that a leading global healthcare company like Omron shares our vision and we are proud to partner with them to improve patients’ lives by driving development of our proprietary PCR diagnostic technology in multiple therapeutic areas."

Through its support for Visby Medical, OVC is committed to contributing to the popularization of new tests that will help prevent infectious disease.

■Profile of Visby Medical, Inc.

Visby Medical rogo

Company Name Visby Medical, Inc.
CEO Adam de la Zerda
Location Head Office: San Jose, California, United States
Established 2012
Line of Business Development and commercialization of portable PCR testing devices

About OMRON VENTURES CO., LTD.
OMRON VENTURES CO., LTD. is a corporate venture capital established in 2014 to create new industries through the integration of OMRON's core technologies of "Sensing & Control + Think" and original technologies and ideas of startups all around the world. It engages in investment activities in the focus domains of FA, smart cities, digital health, and energy management. For more information, visit https://www.omron.com/omronventures/en/

Contact
Corporate Communications Group
Brand Communications Department
OMRON Corporation
Tel: +81-75-344-7175

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