Vivacta

About Vivacta

Vivacta Limited was a medical diagnostics company that developed a proprietary platform for rapid point-of-care (POC) testing. Founded in the UK, the company focused on creating sensors and readers that utilized piezofilm technology to achieve high sensitivity in diagnostic products suitable for near-patient settings. This technology was designed to enable rapid analysis of biomarkers from small blood samples, allowing clinics to perform lab-quality assays with a fast turnaround. The company's primary objective was to create a reliable POC system for diagnosing conditions like thyroid dysfunction from a blood sample. One of its initial applications in development was a test for thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH). Vivacta was also working on a cardiovascular diagnostic test with multiple analytes for use in emergency rooms and acute care, where rapid diagnosis of potential heart attacks is critical. The system involved a reader and disposable microfluidic cartridges. Throughout its operation, Vivacta secured an intellectual property portfolio with over 15 patent families. Vivacta raised significant venture capital, including a $12 million Series B round in 2007 and a total of $30.2 million over five rounds from investors such as Spark Ventures, Idinvest Partners, and HBM Healthcare Investments. In a significant development for the POC diagnostics sector, Vivacta was acquired by Novartis on December 17, 2012, for $90 million. Following the acquisition, the technology continued to be developed, and the resulting system, named Niji, obtained a CE mark in 2016, permitting its sale in the European Union.