#Startup building ‘biowearables’ for chronic kidney disease nets €2.3M
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects 10% of the population and is the third fastest-growing cause of death worldwide. It’s also associated with a heavy financial impact on healthcare, with its treatment costing the EU €140bn per year.
To fight the disease, Metyos has developed a biowearable sensor in the form of a patch, which provides real-time readings on biomarkers related to CKD.
The readings are fed into the startup’s disease management platform, which doctors can use to monitor a patient’s kidney function. This includes tracking the impact of medication and diet and observing warning signs of symptoms such as renal failure or hyperkalemia (the abnormal increase of potassium levels).
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At the same time, patients can use the platform to be in direct contact with the doctors, allowing the quick treatment of urgent situations and a consistent long-term followup. Patients can also monitor themselves through a smartphone app, which Metyos believes enables them to control their care and work alongside doctors to manage and slow the progression of the disease.
“We want to improve health outcomes for CKD patients and financial outcomes for the healthcare system by bringing remote biological monitoring into the CKD space,” CEO Alexandre Boulanger told TNW.
“CKD is one of the major chronic diseases in terms of prevalence, mortality and cost. It is a progressive disease with no cure (but many treatments for the associated conditions) so it can be crucial for patients to slow down or stop the progression of the disease.”
The startup will use the funding to further develop its wearable technology and progress it through clinical trials ahead of FDA approval, targeting regulatory clearance by the end of 2025. The medtech startup will first target end-stage patients with hyperkalemia issues and extend its scope down to earlier stage patients.
The funding round was led by VC fund Cenitz and backed by KIMA Ventures, Advans Lab, and Bpifrance, among others. Metyos is currently at the prototype phase and is looking for participants for its clinical trials.
In 2023, the startup won the Embedded Healthcare Trophy at the Association Embedded France awards, and was nominated as one of the top world health techpreneurs during the Healthcare Innovation World Cup.
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