Further innovations in MedTech to be presented at the 32nd MTi Forum

Companies developing pioneering oesophageal drug-delivery systems, innovative bio-wearables and a venture builder for MedTech and biotech advances will exclusively present in-person as Campden Wealth returns to Lausanne, Switzerland, for the 32nd edition of the MedTech Investing Europe Forum (MTi) on July 12 and 13.

MTi is Europe’s longest-running healthcare investment and partnering event. This year, the forum will showcase around 40 of the latest investment opportunities across devices, healthcare, life sciences and digital health technology.

Chaired by Professor Benoît Dubuis, executive director of Campus Biotech and president of the Inartis Foundation, the forum will welcome an audience of active investors including venture capitalists, private equity funds, family offices, private wealth holders, major healthcare corporations, angel investors and more.

The conference programmes are developed in conjunction with the MTi Investor Advisory Board. Critical topics exploring established, nascent, and anticipated evolutions of wellbeing and health monitoring, diagnostics, treatments, regulations, scaling and business structures are debated with experienced leaders and investors.

The presenting companies, of which three are highlighted below, represents the truly global nature of the healthcare and life-science venture ecosystem, with leading organisations from Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia.

EsoCap Biotech
A privately funded company founded in 2017 and based in Basel, Switzerland, EsoCap Biotech’s vision is to improve the lives of patients with serious illnesses through the development of a unique topical drug delivery platform for diseases of the upper gastrointestinal tract.

Oesophageal conditions, for example, affect more 370 million people a year worldwide. As the oesophagus proves to be a particularly challenging environment for traditional drug delivery methods, EsoCap has come up with a novel solution to enable targeted and long-lasting local therapy of the oesophagus for the first time. 

“Unlike conventional drug delivery methods such as tablets, capsules and viscous fluids, the EsoCap technology ensures that the drug adheres to the oesophageal mucosa for at least 15 minutes for maximum treatment efficiency,” says chief executive officer Isabelle Racamier. “The EsoCap technology consists of a capsule containing a thin mucoadhesive film loaded with an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API).”

A proof-of-principle study conducted on healthy volunteers by EsoCap’s development partner, the University of Greifswald in Germany, successfully demonstrated the functionality of the technology. EsoCap is currently conducting the ACESO Phase 2 study with its lead product ESO-101, recruiting 42 patients with the rare disease eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) in four countries.

“Our technology offers maximum flexibility, as multiple relevant drug substances –including biologics and further innovative compounds –can be incorporated into the thin film, making the smart drug delivery platform applicable to various clinical indications,” says Racamier.

“EsoCap is gaining considerable attention from the industry and is currently demonstrating clinical feasibility in EoE with the ACESO phase 2 trial. Based on the data from the trial, and other applications in Barrett’s disease and reflux, EsoCap will engage in a deal with a major biopharmaceutical company in 2023.”

PKvitality
A French startup currently employing 40 people, PKvitality is launching innovative bio-wearables that aims to combine the convenience of consumer electronic products with the precision of medical devices.

K’Watch Glucose is a Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) smartwatch that continuously traces glucose levels. Wearers can discreetly check sugar levels while tracking glucose trends and history graphs to improve level controls.

“CEO and founder Luc Pierart has had many revolutionary ideas,” says Minh Le, general manager of PKvitality. “One of them was a smartwatch with microneedles to replace blood glucose monitors. We moved from an idea to a prototype in a few months and presented it at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), where we won three awards, including a Best of CES. This and the more than 1,000 people who visited our booth convinced us that we had an exceptional market fit.”

The system, which is protected by 39 patents, is painless and offers an affordable solution to diabetes patients’ wellness tracking.

“For patients, the watch will integrate in their daily live seamlessly. Our design-to-cost architecture will enable more patients to afford a CGM,” says Le. “Medical professionals will benefit from advanced data from our solution as we integrate not only glucose but also wellness data that explain many variations.”

Using the same technology, PKvitality is also developing K’Watch Athlete, a continuous lactate and glucose monitor, which provides real-time monitoring of lactic acid – an indicator of muscle fatigue – and glucose, to aid better manage food management.

PKvitality has received €18 million in funding, is backed by the European Innovation Council (EIC) accelerator and has more than 70,000 subscribers signed up for launch updates.

SQUADRA Lifesciences
United States-based MedTech and biotech venture builder, SQUADRA Lifesciences was created to serve medical practitioners who see the opportunity for medical device innovations. Working with a team of top-tier specialists, the firm aids the development of inventions and their commercial aspects – the company has been created and is driven by people that understand how to make a difference.

“SQUADRA develops solutions for physician-identified problems in 4 domains: cardiovascular, structural heart, neurovascular and oncology,” says SQUADRA Lifesciences founder and chief executive officer Rafal W. Lopallo. “All solutions focus on high unmet clinical needs or significant improvement to current solutions with high potential financial reward.”

Among the potentially game-changing solutions under development by SQUADRA Lifesciences are Structural Heart, the first non-invasive device for the transcatheter treatment of ascending aorta aneurysms and dissections; XClude Medical Inc’s Clude family of novel structural heart occlusion devices; Eradic Aptamer’s non-invasive diagnostic tool for glioblastoma (GBM) tumour detection and targeted treatment; and Circumventrix’s device to treat ischemic stroke in a first-pass approach that will target all clot types.

“SQUADRA matures disruptive ideas through the early development stages, from back of a napkin level to commercialization,” says Lopallo. “By skillfully and respectfully sourcing these ideas directly from physicians, we have created a strong pull-effect in the community, triggering a constant inflow of potential innovations. This alternative approach to maximise patient benefit and satisfy the profit motive is in line with the overall zeitgeist of causing a positive impact on the wellbeing of us all.”
 

For further information, contact Kevin Grant via kevingrant@campdenwealth.com.

Campden Wealth is not an investment advisory service and is not a registered investment adviser or broker/dealer and has performed no due diligence and does not endorse any investment services, strategies or managers listed in Managerlink or at any other Campden Wealth event. You should perform your own extensive due diligence.