OpGen CEO Oliver Schacht on OpGen’s $15m capital raise

Edison Research client OpGen describes itself as ‘a precision medicine company, harnessing the power of molecular diagnostics and bioinformatics to help combat infectious disease’.

Perhaps the most notable part of its mission is to lengthen the life of current antibiotics in the face of growing antimicrobial resistance, also known as AMR. A significant threat to humanity, AMR has already cost the US healthcare system an estimated $20bn and is now set to spiral into a global pandemic, with projections of up to 10 million deaths by 2050.

On October 4, OpGen’s fight against AMR reached a significant milestone. Its Acuitas AMR Gene Panel – which is able to detect 28 different genetic markers associated with AMR, from sample to answer in hours not days – was cleared by the FDA.

With the panel’s commercial launch already under way, OpGen has also opened – and closed – a $15m capital raise.

To the outside world it seems like a swift change in pace for the business. While shareholders prepare to vote on the increase of common stock from 50 million to 100 million shares, management has faced many questions from investors, not least regarding voting rights and dilution.

We asked Edison’s Caroline Woods to put OpGen CEO Oliver Schacht on the spot and ask some pertinent questions.