Funding boost for five digital health companies

Five Australian digital health companies have received funding and networking support via the ANDHealth+ digital health commercialisation support program in an attempt to scale their businesses.

Health technology commercialisation group ANDHealth’s flagship program, supported by $19.5m in Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) funding, will provide companies with up to $3.75 million in equity-free funding, and also offer hands-on support to help them scale up their businesses.

ANDHealth CEO and Managing Director Bronwyn Le Grice said, “Since the first cohort five years ago, ANDHealth+ cohort companies have raised over $148 million in new funding and generated revenues in excess of $49 million, whilst impacting more than 640,000 new patients and generating jobs, clinical trials and commercial pilots.”

The five companies accepted into the program this year are:

• Atmo Biosciences, an Australian digital health business commercialising ingestible gas-sensing capsules to provide insights into gut health and microbiome function. Currently being used in clinical trials, the capsule measures gaseous biomarkers as it travels through the gut to provide a diagnosis, aiming to improve treatment and provide earlier relief of symptoms of gastrointestinal disorders.
• Eugene, a company attempting to scale access to genetic testing by creating at-home medical-grade services. The company’s virtual care model aims to make 95% of specialist clinical care automated for patients.
• Humanetix, a care management platform based on artificial intelligence to deliver clinical workflows and suggestions based on individual patients. The system is designed specifically for care givers, nurses and clinicians.
• Immunosis, a startup company developing diagnostic products for patients with life-threatening immune deficiencies. Immunosis assists clinicians to diagnose patients and inform treatment decisions using software and a test collection kit integrating gene expression signatures and mutation information from a whole blood sample.
• Metabolic Health Solutions (MHS), an integrated medical technology and digital health business working on delivering improved metabolic health outcomes for patients. MHS works on measurement-informed lifestyle solutions to enhance weight loss, using digital platform ENABLE to provide a scalable solution for personalised metabolic health care in primary and allied health settings.
   

The five companies “… will receive highly targeted expert advice and mentoring from international industry leaders, specialised commercialisation expertise and significant non-dilutive investment to generate the clinical and commercial evidence required to scale their digital health products and services nationally and internationally”, Le Grice said.

Each business will be supported by a dedicated project support team and a multi-sectoral, multidisciplinary panel of senior executives with experience in industry areas relevant to digital health commercialisation and market entry.

Image credit: iStock.com/Vladimir Sukhachev