Freedom Meditech roped in $7 million in a Series B financing round in support of 2 diagnostic products for diabetes management, 1 already on the shelves and 1 still on the bench.
The fundraising was joined by new and returning investors, including funders who participated in a $2.5 million round in 2009. Since Freedom Meditech’s founding in 2006, private investors have kicked in more than $10 million to support the company’s flagship biomicroscope technology, according to a press release.
The growth-stage device start-up built its primary business around an eye exam that helps diagnose diabetes. The company hopes to improve diabetes diagnosis by tacking on a simple vision-screening as part of an annual eye exam, CEO Craig Misrach told Xconomy.
The company’s FDA cleared device, called the ClearPath DS-120 Lens Fluorescence Biomicroscope, works by shining blue light at the eye’s lens, creating a natural emission from structures inside cells. Measuring this emitted autofluorescence can reliably indicated if a patient has diabetes or is likely to develop diabetes.
The La Jolla, Calif.-based company said its recent funding round will also go to developing I-SugarX, a personal device held in front of the eye to give a noninvasive a blood sugar reading.
"With diabetes reaching epidemic levels around the world, there is a critical need for new technologies for early detection and monitoring of the condition," said Misrach in prepared remarks.
