Sensor specialist NovioSense has closed a fourth round of financing to fund the next phase of clinical trials for its smartphone-based tear glucose sensor device.
The Netherlands-based company didn’t disclose a dollar amount for the fundraising round, but said investors included existing backers Health Innovations, Topfonds Gelderland, Fraunhofer Ventures and NovioTech.
NovioSense did say it will release clinical data from the second phase of trials on the device in the first half of next year, and expects to go after market clearance in 2019.
Additionally, the company said Harry G. Mitchell has been named as EVP of business development. Mitchell is a co-founder of the Joslin Institute for Technology Translation at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston.
The tear glucose monitor is a flexible miniature sensor that is placed in a lower eyelid and provides glucose measurements directly to a smartphone. The company touts the device as a first-of-its-kind eye-wearable, wireless, battery-free glucose sensor.
"Our device will deliver pain-free continuous glucose monitoring to all individuals with diabetes at an affordable price,” Christopher Wilson, NovioSense’s CEO, said in a statement. “By utilizing NFC technology found in most smartphones, our pain-free non-invasive sensor platform is employed by users to continuously monitor glucose readings, an effective component to any glucose management system.”
In July 2015, NovioSense partnered with Gentag, the Mayo Clinic and the Fraunhofer Institute for Microelectronic Circuits and Systems in a joint venture to develop technology to replace traditional glucometers and explore the management of insulin delivery with smartphone-based systems.