PharmacoPhotonics Inc. raised $1.5 million in equity to develop a device that measures kidney function.
The company’s device can provide a measure of the kidney’s function, or glomerular filtration rate, in 15 to 30 minutes. Current methods of determing GFR either provide a rough estimate or require collecting a patient’s urine samples over a 24-hour period.
The Indianapolis-based company is a spinoff of Indiana University’s Center for Biological Microscopy and was incorporated in 2006.
“There is a big clinical need for this in the hospital,” Center Director Dr. Bruce Molitoris said in a press release. “We can’t tell the kidney function of a patient during acute kidney injury in a rapid fashion that would allow us to make diagnostic and therapeutic decisions.”
The fund-raise comes from 20 investors, with a $5,000 minimum investment amount, according to a regulatory filing. PharmacoPhotonics received the funding commitments over the last year, with the first sale occurring in June 2009.
CEO Joe Muldoon did not immediately return a call.
