PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania — Pittsburgh’s ReGear Life Sciences will use its $2.5 million Series A investment to build a version of its pain-management product, ReBound, for the home health-care market. It also plans to expand further into sports medicine, physical medicine, rehabilitation, and the chiropractic markets, according to a press release.
A $1 million investment by Pittsburgh-based Stonewood Capital, which traditionally invests in manufacturing companies, closed the round. It had raised the remaining $1.5 million through private investors, said Dani Kazienko, ReGear’s director of corporate development.
ReGear had started fund-raising in July.
A Personalized Approach to Medication Nonadherence
At the Abarca Forward conference earlier this year, George Van Antwerp, managing director at Deloitte, discussed how social determinants of health and a personalized member experience can improve medication adherence and health outcomes.
Stonewood Managing Director John Tippins will joins ReGear’s board.
ReBound is a portable warming device that can treat muscle spasms; pain from conditions including osteoarthritis, soft tissue injuries and back disorders; as well as other ailments requiring thermotherapy.
The device is available by prescription use only. While it can be used for home health care now, Kazienko said the ReGear wants to build a new version that would allow practitioners to control how much patients use it. ReGear also needs to create an operation infrastructure to manage at-home patients, including delivery and billing.
Kazienko said the company’s strongest markets include sports medicine, physical therapy and athletic training, among others.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
There’s no timetable on the new device, Kazienko said.
