ATANIS Biotech secures new funding to launch its FAST-PASE allergy diagnostic test

ATANIS Biotech, a leader in allergy diagnostics, has raised capital to advance its novel allergy test, FAST-PASE.

Bern-based functional allergy diagnostics start-up ATANIS Biotech has successfully completed an oversubscribed capital increase to support the launch of its innovative allergy test, FAST-PASE. The new funding will allow ATANIS to accelerate the commercialization of its mast cell activation test, which aims to provide a safer, highly accurate alternative to traditional in vivo allergy diagnostics. The investment round was led by Spectrum Moonshot Fund, a Swiss family-backed fund focused on high-growth technology, with support from experienced allergy investors.

The prevalence of allergies has reached near-epidemic levels worldwide, affecting nearly one-third of the population. ATANIS’ FAST-PASE test, an ex vivo assay based on mast cell activation, addresses the need for a more efficient and reliable allergy diagnostic method. FAST-PASE uses a fluorescent cellular barcoding method for high-throughput analysis, significantly increasing sample processing capacity. In clinical studies, this novel approach has demonstrated higher diagnostic accuracy than conventional allergy tests and enables large-scale patient screening, ideal for applications such as clinical trials and drug development.

Address the urgent need for a safe and functional allergy test for patients

The development of FAST-PASE builds on ATANIS’ earlier work with the Hoxb8 Mast Cell Activation Test (Hoxb8 MAT), developed in collaboration with the University of Bern. The success of the Hoxb8 MAT in diagnosing peanut allergy with 95% accuracy underscored the need for reliable, minimally invasive allergy testing and helped establish ATANIS Biotech. With this new round of financing, ATANIS will work towards regulatory approvals in the US, EU and Switzerland to bring FAST-PASE into the clinic.

In the company’s press release, CEO Prof. Dr. Jean-Pierre Kinet expressed his excitement about the rapid success of the capital raise: “This will allow us to accelerate our marketing efforts in the United States and Europe and help us to more quickly address the urgent need for a safe, functional ex vivo allergy test for patients.” ATANIS also announced that Jascha Forster has joined its Board of Directors, where he will contribute his expertise in growth financing and management.