Biotech companies are developing new test systems to detect diseases as early as possible. Venture capital is no stranger to this trend and in December alone, more than 15 venture capital deals were completed in the first half of 2008. fundingin a field dominated by the venture capital is pharmaceutical companies.

"The disease diagnosis activity has been in full swing throughout the year, with more than 100 operations of funding throughout the year. The most successful ones have been around for quite a few years because it is a sector that requires patience from investors, but these companies have demonstrated with facts their capacity to bring a product to the market", analyses Diego Gutierrez from Abra Invest.

The companies that stand out for having attracted the largest amount of investment were:

Vermillion $74M for diagnosis of women's diseases

Vermillion, located in Austin USA and founded in 1993, has been awarded a financing round of 1TP2Q17.3M in December 2013 led by the fund Oracle Investment Management, a specialist in the health sector. The company is dedicated to the development and commercialisation of high-value markers and diagnostic tests that address unmet needs in oncology, gynaecology and women's health.

Biodesix $67.6M for lung cancer screening

Biodesix offers VeriStrat, a serum protein test that helps physicians choose therapy for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The test is now commercially available and provides oncologists with the information needed to select between erlotinib and single-agent chemotherapy for patients with advanced lung cancer. The tests are processed in the CLIA-certified laboratory. Biodesix 'and the results are presented in less than 72 hours. In December 2013 it closed one round $8.3M of which $4.3M are new funds and another $4M from the conversion of convertible bonds.

Rheonix $42.1M for Biomedical Devices

Rheonix, Inc.. operates as a biomedical device company. Its products include CARD (Chemistry and Reagent Device) to miniaturise and automate new and existing assays in various fields. Its products and technologies are used in human/veterinary, in vitro diagnostics, food/water analysis, SNP analysis for customised medicine applications, homeland security/defence applications, process control and final product quality control and tissue culture analysis in a research or production context. It has closed in December 2013 a round of $12M provided by Rand Capital and Cayuga Venture Fund, which already contributed another $6M in a series A round in 2010.