As it gears up to submit its noninvasive glucose monitoring technology for potential FDA clearance, Know Labs has recruited a pair of experts to its executive team to help smooth out the process.
The Seattle-based company appointed its first-ever chief product officer and chief financial officer, it announced Tuesday. Along with Know Labs’ chief marketing officer and senior vice president of software engineering, they’ll be leading the charge in plotting out the commercial launch of the technology as it moves through the regulatory review process.
“Collectively, these four talented individuals bring decades of experience and knowledge that will strengthen the company,” said Ron Erickson, the company’s chairman. “2022 and 2023 are pivotal years for Know Labs, and I look forward to working together to achieve what we believe will be the world’s first noninvasive glucose monitoring devices.”
Steven Kent will take on the role of chief product officer, overseeing the life cycle from product development through clinical testing. He joins Know Labs with more than a decade’s worth of medtech experience. Most recently, he spent nearly three years at health-tracking ring maker Oura as head of health partnerships and corporate strategy, a role that came after a six-year stint as the founder and CEO of Invicta Medical, developer of a wearable neurostimulator device to treat sleep apnea.
Know Labs’ other new hire is Peter Conley, who’s coming aboard as CFO and senior vice president of intellectual property. Like Kent, he arrives with plenty of experience: Conley has spent more than three decades as a managing director and chief operating officer at a handful of investment banks and IP-focused firms, including ipCapital Venture Group, Boustead Securities, ipCreate and more.
“Pete and Steve bring tremendous expertise that will help us refine and execute our IP strategy, product innovation and machine learning progress,” said CEO Phil Bosua. “By strengthening our executive leadership team, we are better positioned to tackle the milestones needed for the FDA clearance process.”
Earlier this year, Know Labs offered an update on the other actions it’s taking to prepare for FDA submission. Those include beginning an internal 200-person trial of its technology, making plans to partner with an unnamed “leading medical research institution” to gather even more clinical data and completing development of a working prototype of its first device.
All of those efforts were expected to support the company’s case in an upcoming pre-submission meeting with the FDA to lay out its proposed route to regulatory clearance.
If that route is approved, Know Labs is hoping to see its devices become the first FDA-cleared noninvasive glucose monitors.
The devices rely on the company’s own Body-Radio Frequency Identification, or Bio-RFID, technology, which sends radio waves through the skin to measure blood sugar levels, taking the place of implanted sensors and regular fingersticks.