Australian medical technology start-up, Nutromics, has raised $5.7 million for its Continuous Molecular Monitoring (CMM) platform technology and is planning to commence first-in-human trials.
Millions of people die every year because clinicians lack access to timely and actionable molecular data.
Nutromics said it is looking to enter the market by 2023. It said the funds raised will be used to set up manufacturing and to conduct first-in-human clinical trials starting later this year.
Nutromics’ CMM platform technology can track multiple targets in the human body through a single wearable sensor. It will allow doctors and patients to receive real-time, continuous molecular-level insights, that will also unlock remote patient monitoring and hospital-at-home systems for vulnerable populations.
The company said it plans to initially launch its ‘lab-on-the-skin’ device in Australia and the US before expanding to other markets.
“We’ve received an overwhelming amount of support for our technology from clinicians all around the world. With this new wave of funding, we are getting closer to launching our technology in the Australian and U.S. markets to start saving lives,” said Hitesh Mehta, co-founder and co-CEO of Nutromics.
A return cornerstone investor to the funding round was venture capital firm, Artesian. “Nutromics is the perfect example of an innovative company that puts patients first. Instead of focusing on visible problems, they took the time to identify critical gaps in the healthcare system and are offering a solution that will save countless lives,” said Rohan Gray, Portfolio Manager at Artesian.
The company will first launch in the Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (TDM) market for a commonly prescribed life-saving antibiotic called vancomycin. Nutromics said it hopes to enable precision dosing to eliminate preventable complications such as acute kidney injury and unlock hospital-at-home systems for patients who receive this antibiotic.
Currently, 60 per cent of administered doses of vancomycin are not in the therapeutic range. This results in poorer patient outcomes including complications from overdosing and underdosing, increased medical costs, and longer recovery times.
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, current hospital infrastructure and systems are accelerating their trends toward effective, hospital-level care delivered in the home. This includes the delivery of intravenous medicines, such as vancomycin.