Sarasota pink eye test manufacturer sees $28M

LAKEWOOD RANCH — RPS Diagnostics, a medical science firm that specializes in point-of-care tests for rapid diagnosis of patients for infectious diseases and inflammatory conditions, has secured $28 million in financing.

The funds, according to a press release, are from New York City-based OrbiMed, an investment firm with around $12 billion in assets under management that works exclusively in the health care sector. RPS says the investment, combined with previous capital, will provide “significant flexibility as it continues to grow and advance toward profitability.”

RPS, with an office in a Lakewood Ranch corporate park, currently has two FDA-cleared products on the market. One is AdenoPlus, which helps diagnose Adenoviral conjunctivitis, or pink eye. The other is InflammaDry, which helps diagnose dry eye disease. Other products are in development.

“As one of the premier global health care investors, OrbiMed's extensive network and health care industry prowess will be instrumental to RPS's continued success,” RPS CEO and President Robert Sambursky says in the release. “We will leverage this funding to extend the reach of our commercial infrastructure and support the advancement of our product development pipeline.”