Diabetes diagnostics developer Zenomics has received $5.8m from biomedical device producer MicroPort Scientific in the first tranche of its first funding round.
Zenomics, a US-based diabetes analysis-focused medical spinout from University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, today raised $5.8m from biomedical device manufacturer MicroPort Scientific.
Zhen Gu, a biomedical engineer with joint faculty appointments at UNC and North Carolina (NC) State University, founded Zenomics in 2015 to develop a microneedle transdermal patch the size of a coin to help manage diabetes.
Hundreds of microneedles on the patch administer insulin via minuscule tanks which also contain glucose sensors, allowing patients to monitor their condition more efficiently. The technology was developed at UNC Chapel Hill and NC State University’s Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering.
Zenomics will use the funding to advance the microneedle asset towards commercialisation, while also mounting a recruitment drive for its research laboratories.
Animal testing is expected to commence soon, ahead of a potential clinical testing program on humans.
John Buse, director of UNC’s diabetes care program, said: “These tiny devices have the potential not only to improve health, but enhance quality of life.
“For patients with diabetes, it is a 24-7 disease where attention to diet, activity, blood sugar levels, and stress is required to adequately treat the disease. If successful, the Zenomics approach would reduce that effort to applying the application of a patch.”
