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$OPGN 1.58 If They Figure Out The Super Bug The Gains Here Could Be Enormous. Merck & Co. venture arm backs superbug fighter OpGen in $10.3 million funding round.

http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2016/06/01/merck-co-venture-arm-backs-superbug-fighter-opgen.html?ana=twt





OpGen Inc. (NASDAQ: OPGN) raised $10.4 million in a recent funding round led by the Merck Global Health Innovation Fund, the venture capital arm of pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co.

The Gaithersburg biotech combats infectious disease, including so-called superbugs, with its molecular diagnostics and bioinformatics tools. The raise will support sales and marketing, as well as ongoing research and development, of the company's multidrug resistant organism platform called Acuitas Lighthouse.

Evan Jones, CEO of OpGen and seen here in 2007. The company recently raised $10.3 million to support its Acuitas Lighthouse product.


JOE BRIER

In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing earlier this week, the Merck fund reported it now has a 37.5 percent stake in OpGen. That's up from a previously reported stake of 11.8 percent.

Sabby Management LLC also led the round. OpGen management and certain directors also participated.

OpGen's rapid DNA testing technology can quickly identify drug-resistant bacteria, or bugs with genes that could potentially lead them to become resistant.The rapid testing allows hospitals or public health experts to identify and more quickly respond to patients who are found to be infected.

It's an increasingly necessary practice in response to growing global concerns about the threat of antibiotic resistance. Last month, a Pennsylvania woman was discovered to have an E. coli bacteria resistant to the antibiotic known as a "last resort" drug, although it responded to other drugs. That finding has raised fears of future infections that are untreatable.

A recent study conducted by OpGen of hospitals around the District found a 5.1 percent prevalence rate of another antibiotic-resistant bacteria known as carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, or CRE. CRE is particularly alarming because it spreads easily and is particularly lethal. There has not been a significant CRE incident reported in the District, although the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda battled a deadly CRE outbreak in 2011.

OpGen issued an aggregate of about 6.7 million shares of common stock, 2.3 shares of preferred stock and warrants to purchase 6.8 million shares of common stock. The financing consisted of units sold at a price of $1.14 per unit, with each consisting of either one share of common stock or one share of non-voting, convertible preferred stock, and one warrant to acquire 0.75 of one share of common stock.

The private placement will be closed in two transactions with the second closing is expected to occur later this month, executives said.








OpGen to Present at the 6th Annual LD Micro Invitational Conference



GAITHERSBURG, MD / ACCESSWIRE / June 2, 2016 / OpGen, Inc. (OPGN), a precision medicine company using molecular diagnostics and bioinformatics to combat infectious disease, announced today that Kevin Krenitsky, president, will present at the 6th Annual LD Micro Invitational conference on June 7, 2016 at 2:30 p.m. Pacific Time. The conference is being held from June 7- 9 at the Luxe Sunset Boulevard Hotel in Los Angeles.

A webcast of the presentation will be available in the investor relations section of the Company's website, www.opgen.com, and will be archived for 90 days following the presentation.

About OpGen

OpGen, Inc. is developing and deploying precision medicine tools to combat infectious disease in global healthcare settings, helping physicians improve patient outcomes by providing more rapid information about life-threatening infections and decreasing the spread of infections caused by multidrug-resistant microorganisms. OpGen offers a full portfolio of in vitro diagnostic products and clinical laboratory services that employ state-of-the-art molecular diagnostics and bioinformatics. Its QuickFISH® products are a suite of FDA-cleared and CE-marked diagnostics used to rapidly detect pathogens in positive blood cultures. Clinical laboratory services utilize the Acuitas® products, including the MDRO Gene Test, the Resistome Test, microbial Whole Genome Sequence Analysis and Acuitas Lighthouse™ bioinformatics system designed to detect, type, track and trend antibiotic resistant organisms in real-time. Learn more at http://www.opgen.com and follow OpGen on Twitter and LinkedIn.

About LD Micro

LD Micro was founded in 2006 with the sole purpose of being an independent resource in the microcap space. What started out as a newsletter highlighting unique companies has transformed into an event platform hosting several influential conferences annually (Invitational, Summit, and Main Event).

In 2015, LDM launched the first pure microcap index (the LDMi) to exclusively provide intraday information on the entire sector. LD will continue to provide valuable tools for the benefit of everyone in the small and microcap universe. For those interested in attending, please contact David Scher at [e-mail] or visit http://www.ldmicro.com for more information.

Contacts:

OpGen

Michael Farmer
Director, Marketing
[phone]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

Investor Relations

LHA
Kim Sutton Golodetz
[phone]
[e-mail]
or
Bruce Voss
[phone]
[e-mail]

OpGen media

MacDougall Biomedical Communications
Cammy Duong
781-591-3443
[e-mail]