24 October 2024
Alimetry has raised an oversubscribed US $18m A2 financing round to commercialise its wearable gut health monitoring device, capitalizing on increased adoption by a growing cohort of US hospitals. This adoption is driven by Alimetry receiving its fourth FDA clearance, the establishment of a CPT III reimbursement code, and the completion of over 30 clinical studies. Alimetry’s flagship AI powered product delivers accurate analysis and diagnosis of gut disorders that have been proven difficult to solve using conventional diagnostics and testing. The oversubscribed round was led by GD1 (Global from Day One), with participation from the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) GI Opportunity Fund, Olympus Innovation Ventures, IceHouse Ventures, and follow on from existing investors.
Nearly one in 10 people suffer from chronic gut symptoms ranging from abdominal pain to chronic indigestion, nausea and vomiting. The current diagnostic journey is slow and poor for patients, causing them to suffer through this period with a reduced quality of life. Alimetry is reducing the cost, time, and complexity of gut health diagnostics by providing rapid, upfront clarity and diagnosis that allows more effective and definitive treatment.
“Alimetry was designed to introduce clarity into a field that has involved lengthy, uncertain diagnostic journeys. It gives clinicians the tools they need to quickly and correctly diagnose patients so that we can move on from trial and error – and guesswork – into clarity of care and personalised medicine,” explains Alimetry chief executive Dr. Greg O’Grady, who is also a Professor of Surgery at the University of Auckland.
“Alimery turns months or even years of testing into improved clarity and safer, more accessible, less invasive care. They’ve demonstrated the power of technology to usher in a new era of tech-enabled diagnostics – in this case the undeniable connection of gut health to patient health,” comments Vignesh Kumar, GD1 Co-Managing Partner.
How it works
Like the heart, the gut produces electrical current but these are 100 times weaker than the heart. Alimetry’s highly sensitive wearable device detects these electrical currents from the skin’s surface (called Body Surface Gastric Mapping), similar to an ultra-high resolution electrocardiogram (ECG). Recordings of these signals are taken while patients eat and digest a meal. At the same time, patients log their symptoms into an app.
The device sends the patient’s gastric electrophysiology to the cloud where advanced, AI-powered analysis is performed using smart algorithms based on thousands of diverse and representative test cases used to train and improve benchmarking. The resulting auto-generated Gastric Alimetry Report provides clinicians with objective, data-driven insights to inform their interpretation and aid the diagnosis and personalised treatment of gastric disorders.
“The AGA GI Opportunity Fund is excited to support Alimetry and its breakthrough platform that will improve the patient experience by reducing both the time and cost of diagnosing GI symptoms,” said Michael L. Kochman, MD, AGAF, MASGE, Wilmott Family Professor of Medicine and Surgery, Center for Endoscopic Innovation, Research and Training, Gastroenterology Division, University of Pennsylvania Health System; Fund Manager and Advisor, AGA GI Opportunity Fund.
Making sense of the gut-brain connection
“Gastric ailments have a myriad of causes – arising from diets, diseases, and the vagus nerve (physiological causes) to things like stress and the gut-brain axis. Having a multimodal platform that assesses all of these things at the same time is a game-changer for clinicians. The Alimetry digital health and wearable platform includes physiology tracking and symptom tracking through gut-brain health questionnaires built into the accompanying app, allowing clinicians to turn a previously confusing picture into a specific diagnosis that paves the way for personalised medicine,” explains Chris Andrews, Chief Medical Officer and Professor of Gastroenterology at the University of Calgary.
Early uptake following FDA approval
The device and platform have been approved for clinical use by the United States Food and Drug Administration to be rolled out to the US market and since controlled market release in 2022. Over 40 hospitals and clinics worldwide have signed on to use the device.
The American Medical Association has established a Category III Current Procedural Terminology (CPT®) that allows data collection for widespread usage and approval for reimbursement which means the product can be used in hospitals as well as private clinics.
Alimetry also complies with stringent privacy regulations, including HIPAA and GDPR.
“Alimetry is transforming how we approach patients with various gastric disorders. It’s difficult not to get over-excited about this”, states physician Bu’ Hayee, Professor of Gastroenterology at King’s College London.
Journey to commercialisation
Founded by Dr O’Grady and Dr Armen Gharibans in 2019, Alimetry’s research began at the Auckland Bioengineering Institute. The company’s R&D team is headquartered in New Zealand; while its consumables are manufactured in the US where a newly expanded commercial function has been set up to focus on commercialisation, powered by its raise.
“In addition to commercialising our debut product, our team is also focusing on ‘what’s next’ in terms of using our proprietary tech to keep on pushing the limits of what’s possible in industry. We’ll be introducing new features and new elements of our platform as well as expanding into using Alimetry beyond the gut – such as paediatrics. The technology is also suited for use in other organs such as the colon, ultimately, helping us reach even patients with accurate diagnostics with the potential to radically transform their health,” concludes Dr O’Grady.
(ENDS)
About Alimetry
Alimetry was founded in 2019 with the goal of making gut health accessible to everyone. The company was founded on a background of world-leading science in gastrointestinal diseases. With offices in the United States and New Zealand, Alimetry is dedicated to improving the lives of patients by delivering innovative medical solutions to advance GI diagnostics and enable targeted therapies.
Contact:
Hainee Yee
CCO & Chief of Staff, Alimerty
[email protected]
