Cytovale has raised $84m in a Series C funding round to continue the rollout of its sepsis diagnosis test.

The round was led by Northwest Venture Partners, with participation by additional new investors Sands Capital and Global Health Investment Corporation.

San Francisco-based Cytovale said it will use the funds to roll out its IntelliSep rapid sepsis diagnosis test to more hospital emergency departments and health systems across the US.

The laboratory test received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance in January 2023. The company commercially launched in the US in August 2023.

Intellisep can allocate patients into three bands based on their sepsis probability using a standard blood sample. The laboratory test assesses the body’s immune response to an infection and delivers results within ten minutes.

Sepsis is the third leading cause of death in US hospitals. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 1.7 million adults in the US develop sepsis each year, with 350,000 dying as a result.

Cytovale CEO Ajay Shah said: “IntelliSep, with a blood-to-answer time frame of under ten minutes, helps healthcare providers recognise sepsis early and make critical, time-sensitive clinical decisions.

"With the support of our investors, we are now able to expand efforts to get our tool in the hands of more providers so they can address the potentially deadly outcomes patients currently face."

Procalcitonin (PCT) tests are a standard method to diagnose and monitor sepsis. It measures the production of PCT, a peptide precursor of the hormone calcitonin, which increases in response to a pro-inflammatory stimulus, typically as a result of bacterial infection.

According to a market model by GlobalData, the global PCT market is expected to remain relatively stable. The advent of newer technologies in sepsis diagnosis is restricting the market’s long-term growth.