Singapore-based medical technology firm AWAK Technologies has secured $40m in an oversubscribed investment round to support the clinical studies and commercialisation of its wearable and ultra-portable AWAK Peritoneal Dialysis (AWAK PD) device.
The financing round was led new investors Vickers Venture Partners, a leading venture capital firm focused on life sciences and deep tech, and a leading global medical products company.
In addition, the shares of the company were also subscribed by other new investors and existing investors including Advanced MedTech and SEEDS Capital, an investment arm of Enterprise Singapore.
Vickers Venture Partners vice chairman Jeffrey Chi said: “We’re excited to be part of this exciting journey to greatly improve the quality of lives of dialysis patients. AWAK’s technology is a breakthrough in the kidney dialysis space.
“Whilst we expect this investment to perform well financially, we are also pleased that its technology will benefit millions of patients and alleviate the huge burden of end-stage kidney disease on global healthcare systems.”
The funding brings the total investment in AWAK reach more than $60m
The latest financing round takes the total sum raised by AWAK since inception to more than $60m.
AWAK is engaged in research, development and marketing of AWAK PD, an advanced, sorbent-based kidney dialysis machine designed for treating patients with end-stage kidney disease.
The device has been developed to incorporate the company’s sorbent technology to remove the uremic toxins from spent dialysate and facilitates real-time restoration of the used dialysis fluid into fresh fluid.
The device eliminates the need for large volumes of dialysate, continuous water supply and water treatment in dialysis treatments, which is costly.
The company claimed that its AWAK PD is a portable, easy-to-use light-weight device, which does not require medical supervision, and reduces the infrastructure and cost to provide care for patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD).
In October 2018, the company completed a first-in-human study of its AWAK PD, which demonstrated positive results for AWAK PD in removing wastes from the blood, and the study reported no serious adverse events.
The company has secured US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) breakthrough device designation for its AWAK PD. It intends to start a pivotal study of the device in the coming 12-18 months and is discussing the regulatory pathway with international regulatory bodies.
AWAK Technologies chief executive officer Suresha Venkataraya said: “Currently, around three million people are undergoing dialysis treatment and forced to adapt their lifestyle to the therapy. AWAK PD aims to provide dialysis on-the-go with maximum convenience and comfort, reducing the time and cost burdens of dialysis for patients and healthcare systems alike.
“We are delighted to have attracted highly reputed investors at this important stage of AWAK’s development and look forward to their guidance and expertise as we seek to revolutionise dialysis therapy.”
