The Hayward, California–based startup has already started first-in-human trials in New Zealand, Endiatx told MassDevice this week. Endiatx plans to publish data from those trials, saying they are “progressing well, and physicians appreciate the technology.”
MDO Min-Vasive Medtech Series: Join a live interview with Endiatx CEO Torrey Smith about minimally invasive device design
Endiatx intends to file for an investigational device exemption (IDE) from the FDA this year to start the pivotal trial, to be conducted at Mayo Clinic campuses, a spokesperson said.
The company also offered an update on its fundraising, saying it’s already secured $7 million from investors and is working on a $20 million Series A round.
DeviceTalks West 2024: Endiatx CEO Torrey Smith will demo the PillBot
That PillBot 1.0 version has a 13 mm diameter and wireless remote control so a physician can move the swallowable device around inside a patient’s stomach for visual inspection.
Endiatx envisions PillBot 2.0 as smaller (1o mm diameter) with “AI-automated movement, lab-on-chip gut biome analysis, further miniaturization [and] AI diagnostics using large data pool.”
Later iterations could include surgical tools, Smith told Medical Design & Outsourcing in a 2022 profile.
Endiatx and Mayo Clinic’s partnership
Rochester, Minnesota-based Mayo Clinic already has equity in Endiatx through a 15-year know-how license agreement covering the system’s development, as previously reported by MassDevice.
Dr. Vivek Kumbhari, the chair of gastroenterology and hepatology at Mayo Clinic–Florida, joined the Endiatx board in 2021 and helped Endiatx with cadaver testing at Mayo Clinic.
Medical Design & Outsourcing: How Mayo Clinic will accelerate Endiatx’s PillBot development
Most recently, Kumbhari presented a TED Talk in April with Endiatx co-founder, Chair and Chief Technology Officer Alex Luebke, who swallowed a PillBot live on stage. That TED Talk went live just this week — watch it below:
