A company that’s developing a noninvasive blood glucose monitoring system for diabetics is hoping to raise $2.5 million to boost its staff and test its device.
And Columbus, Ohio-based DIRAmed said it would be willing to move out of the state if it can land new investment, CEO Will Shain said.
“We are currently considering a move out of Ohio to relocate the company to a more favorable region for an early stage medical device company that is focused in in-vitro diagnostics,” Shain said in an e-mail, adding that he wouldn’t reveal any further details about a possible move until the company makes a final decision.
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DIRAmed is one of several companies developing a diabetes glucose monitor to allow diabetics to check blood-sugar levels without drawing blood or pricking the skin. By making the process easier and less painful, a noninvasive meter could greatly increase diabetics’ adherence to tracking their blood glucose levels.
If the company succeeds in its goal of raising $2.5 million, the funding would go toward hiring staff in engineering and chemometrics, plus further clinical studies of its device, Shain said. DIRAmed is still in the early stages of the fund-raise, with one investor contributing $80,000 so far, according to a regulatory document.
The funding would cover DIRAmed’s costs for 18 months, said Shain, a former executive with Steris and Covidien. At the end of that 18-month period, Shain hopes that DIRAmed will have shown enough clinical progress to attract a strategic development partner.
DIRAmed plans several clinical studies to continue fine-tuning its data-analysis and data-collection technology. The company is likely several years away from getting any products on the market. “We have a working model of a noninvasive glucose monitor, and must scale up our efforts to bring the working system through internal validation,” Shain said.
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DIRAmed’s technology is based on Raman spectroscopy, which measures the scattering of light to help in molecular analysis. The device works by aiming a laser at a patient’s skin, and then using a camera to collect and analyze light scattered by the molecules in the skin to get a tissue glucose measurement.
The company began in 2002, but Shain joined last year. DIRAmed has raised about $3 million over its lifetime, primarily from angel investors.
