23 Jan 2008

ICON has successfully advised L3 Technology (L3T) on the completion of a £1.75m fundraising led by Catapult Venture Managers.

L3T is developing an exciting new point of care medical device for the accurate measurement of blood cholesterol including full lipid analysis. The technology enables instant results for patient testing in GP surgeries, with the accuracy and precision of central laboratory analysis.

With low costs per test and rapid, accurate results, this will make programmes for the widespread screening and monitoring of cholesterol levels a commercially viable proposition.

L3T was founded by Anglo Scientific and CLIK, the commercialisation arm of the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). Its technology was developed by a collaboration of scientists at Daresbury Laboratory. Henry Hyde-Thomson the Chairman of Anglo Scientific commenting on the deal said: "We are delighted with closing the new investment in L3Technology and appreciate the assistance provided by the team at ICON."

Coronary Artery Disease (CAD), of which a major contributing factor is high cholesterol, is set to become the biggest killer disease worldwide by 2010 - according to the World Health Organization.

Not all cholesterol is bad for you. Cholesterol is made up of several sub-fractions, some of which are very good for you and only some of which are very bad for you. An over-the-counter cholesterol test does not distinguish between the sub-fractions. A laboratory test breaks cholesterol down to good and bad, but it typically takes a minimum of three days to get the data back and requires a healthcare professional to take a blood sample. L3T's technology gives you all of this information, with accuracy better than the best laboratories from a pin-prick of blood in 60 seconds.