QuiO (pronounced kwee-oh), a digital healthcare startup developing sensor-driven smart injection devices and connected cloud-based software for the clinical trial and chronic disease market has raised $1.05 million in seed funding. The round was led by undisclosed investors with expertise in the health insurance, pharmaceutical and clinical research industries.
The company plans to utilize the funding to finish development of its lead SmartinjectorTM device, which leverages a propriety design for accepting all of the most common syringes and delivering even the most sensitive and viscous biologics. Additionally, the company is preparing for pilots and a 510(k) submission.
Medication non-adherence poses significant clinical and economic problems to healthcare systems globally, especially involving chronic disease patients who must self-inject at home. The emergence of the internet of medical things (IoMT) has shown success in addressing the issue, including inhaler sensors, connected pill bottles, and other adherence monitoring devices.
However, patients taking injectable therapies do not have access to such tools today, and average adherence rates can be as low as 50%. Poor adherence to injectable therapies results in over $14 billion in avoidable medical costs and $22 billion in lost pharmaceutical revenue each year in the United States alone.
Instead of focusing on price, QuiO believes there is an opportunity to improve the value that patients (and healthcare systems) receive from these expensive therapies. Founded in early 2014 by Alex Dahmani while pursuing a Ph.D. at Columbia University in microbiology & immunology, QuiO is developing the first real-time adherence monitoring solution for injectable therapies. The solution is powered by a fully connected drug delivery device platform.
SmartinjectorTM
The company’s SmartinjectorTM devices are designed to make self-injection easy and reliable for patients, preventing common mistakes and ensuring the full dose is delivered. Each SmartinjectorTM records injection performance, and wirelessly communicates data to the company’s cloud-based software platform.
Connected Drug Delivery Device Platform
The HIPAA-compliant platform includes a secure web dashboard with analytics and communication tools that enable caregivers to remotely monitor dosing activity and deliver timely support to patients in need. The platform also collects data from 3rd party devices, including weight scales, activity trackers and glucose meters, providing a holistic and continuous view of each patient’s health outside of the clinic.
Competing wireless injection devices require additional hardware and extensive setup and syncing, which may limit their applicability, burden the patient and compromise the data generated. SmartinjectorTM devices are fully connected, enabling real-time wireless data transmission without any patient input, smartphone or syncing required.
“With over 15 million Americans prescribed an injectable therapy today, we see a large and growing need for a comprehensive drug delivery and adherence monitoring solution,” says Alex Dahmani, co-founder and CEO of QuiO in a statement. “Injectable therapies, including biologics and biosimilars, represent the future of medicine, making up nearly half of the pharmaceutical pipeline. These are amazing therapies, and our technology is designed to help them reach their full potential. We may even help move cancer therapies out of the clinic, enabling patients to safely treat themselves at home.”
To date the company has filed four patents and finished development of the final prototype and connected software. QuiO is also working with one of the largest specialty pharmacies in the US, and have begun talks with three out of the top ten global pharma companies.