Oxford Medtech business, OrganOx, receives a £4.6 million investment

OrganOx has announced a £4.6m investment from BGF which will fund the commercial expansion of its first product, the metra, in the US, building upon commercial traction in Europe, Canada and Australia.

OrganOx metra is the world’s first fully automated system for keeping a human donor liver functioning for up to 24 hours outside the body. This has broken through the 40 years of traditional organ preservation in ice and doubles the time that donor organs can be preserved.

The device effectively mimics the environment of the human body using warm, oxygenated blood and nutrients supplied to the donor liver during the crucial time between donation and transplantation. Not only this, but the device has enabled transplant teams to assess the function of a donor liver before a transplant – something that was previously impossible using ice storage.

Currently, more that 600 patients have received a liver preserved using the OrganOx metra, already commercially available in Europe and clinically available in North America and Australia.

OrganOx is a University of Oxford spin-out (2008) with the original technology being developed there too.

 “We are excited to be investing in another thriving business in the UK’s life sciences sector and growing our presence here in Oxford, one of the country’s most dynamic and innovative business communities. As the first company to commercialise a fully automated liver preservation system, OrganOx has radically disrupted the transplant market and we believe that the potential of this ground-breaking technology on global mortality rates could be significant. We are delighted to be supporting Craig and the team as they scale up OrganOx and take advantage of the opportunities to expand their reach and bring this critical technology to even more patients around the world.”

Alex Snodgrass, Investor at BGF

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