INVESTOR confidence in life sciences firm Arrayjet has led to an oversubscription in its largest round of investment.

A total of £650,000 has been injected into the business, led by Archangels Investors and Scottish Enterprises, which will be used to expand Arrayjet Advance, the business’s in-house consultancy service.

It will also increase its global commercial resource and bring new products to market, as the company develops the next phase of what it called an “ambitious global strategy”.

The Midlothian business uses inkjet printheads to print biological material to create microarrays. Known as a ‘laboratory on a chip’, microarrays are used to enhance complex drug discovery programs and other biomedical research strategies.

The original investment was pitched at £500,000, but the round was capped at £650,000 after investors readily pledged funds against growth plans outlined by Iain McWilliam, the company’s chief executive officer.

Its consultancy service, Arrayjet Advance, was developed to offer life science companies and research labs a dedicated microarray analytical results service, providing access to Arrayjet’s in-house scientific team and its fully automated laboratory complex.

Mr McWilliam said the investment would help Arrayjet capitalise on the global market demand for its technology, and accelerate the company’s pace of product innovation.

“As demonstrated by our remarkable growth, Arrayjet is forging a strong path in the development and delivery of microarray technology for the global life sciences industry,” he said.

The company has sustained three years of consistent growth, catalysed by a restructuring and reshaping of the board, bringing more commercial focus to the company.

As part of this, entrepreneur and investor Alan Faichney was appointed as non-executive chairman and Martin Ramsay was appointed as non-executive finance director, joining both Iain McWilliam and Arrayjet’s chief operating officer Kirsty Macfarlane to complete the board.

For this investment round, Arrayjet was represented by Rooney Nimmo, with MBM Commercial representing Archangel Investors and Scottish Enterprise.

The company has recently signed deals with Swiss firm Novartis, Philip Morris International and Bejing-based Capital Bio.