RUSNANO has announced plans to invest in the French company Magnisense SE, a developer of next-generation laboratory biological tests for healthcare, veterinary, food industry and ecological measurements.

RUSNANO will kick in up to $37m; the project's total budget is a reported $58m. The rest will be raised from the existing and new Magnisense shareholders.

Under plans, in Russia the parties will launch production of advanced diagnostics systems, based on Magnisense's patented technology that utilizes magnet immunological tests MIAtek. Target molecules or microorganisms are selectively identified by antibodies with magnet nano-particles attached. The Magnisense technology combines the accuracy of lab testing and the simplicity of express analyses in diagnosing heart attacks, sexually transmitted diseases, vaccination, microbiological pollution of food, etc. The method uses magnetic particles as tracers and therefore ensures higher sensitivity than tranditional fermentative and fluorescent diagnostics methods.

Magnisense will make two types of products at its Russian complex:

MIAstrip®: test strips for out-of-lab quantitative diagnostics of various pathological conditions including heart attacks, bacterial infections, including tetanus; virus infections, including bird flu; parasite and fungal infections;

MIAflo®: dispensable cartridges for quantitative analyses of cardiovascular diseases; bacterial pollutions in food, such as listerias and salmonellas, or in water, such as legionellas; virus, parasite or fungal infections.

Magnisense’s Russian complex, with an annual capacity of 3.5 million test-strips, is scheduled for commissioning in 2015. The products will reportedly be sold to domestic consumers and exported to Europe, USA and Japan.