Common Sensing Secures $6.6M Series A Investment Round to Support Injectable Medicines
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Common Sensing (http://www.common-sensing.com), an evidence-based, data-driven injectable-medicine healthcare company, today announced the close of a $6.6 million USD Series A financing. The round was led by Waterline Ventures. New World Health, Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG; AEX: PHIA), Qualcomm Ventures (the investment arm of Qualcomm Incorporated), Sanofi Ventures, and Haselmeier joined the round as well. The funds will be used to accelerate Common Sensing's manufacturing and commercial operations for Gocap™, an IP-protected dose monitoring solution enabling patients and providers to better utilize injectable medicine, including insulin, fertility medications, growth hormones, and others.
"Gocap is revolutionizing the way people prescribe and use injectable medicines like insulin," said James White, co-founder and President of Common Sensing. "When a person is prescribed insulin, that injection is the most important daily step they take to better health outcomes. And yet, most care teams have no visibility into how their patients are using insulin and many patients are missing critical feedback about their care - Common Sensing closes this information gap for both patients and care teams with its new technology."
Waterline Ventures is a healthcare technology venture capital fund investing in industry-leading companies transforming how care is delivered. "Waterline is extremely excited to work with the Common Sensing team, They are drastically improving care delivery for people using injectable medicine," said Robbie Greenglass, Partner at Waterline Ventures. "We invest in platform solutions that will drive the technological transformation of care delivery worldwide, and with over 16 billion injections delivered every year, Common Sensing is tackling a massive problem that has not had a solution available in the past."
Common Sensing's smart cap tracks, logs and manages injectable dosage, timing, and storage information to get a complete picture of how people use injectable medicine at home and on-the-go. Then Gocap revolutionizes injector medicine management through data-driven services, including remote disease management, pharmaceutical support, automatic refills, dose titration, and caretaker collaboration. These devices and services mean the difference between success and failure of the injectable treatment and are marketed to pharmaceutical companies, healthcare providers, and payer organizations. Dosage failure has a high cost: over $1 trillion per year spent on injectable medicine treatments.
"Gocap is a truly innovative solution to achieve better outcomes with injectable medicines. As a clinician, I encounter firsthand the difficulties of managing diabetes due to the lack of information regarding insulin dosing and administration. Consequently, patients suffer from devastating effects, including heart disease, stroke, renal failure, and neuropathies," said Edward Lung, MD, MPH, a managing partner at New World Health. "This is just one application where the Gocap platform can transform the field of medicine. New World Health is thrilled to join Common Sensing in trying to enable better healthcare delivery with injectable medicines. We see this as a novel approach to an unmet need. This is the first step of a great leap for the injectable drug market."
Philips' minority investment follows the participation of Common Sensing in the Philips HealthWorks Startup Program in Cambridge, MA. Common Sensing and the Gocap technology was developed by co-founders James White and Richard Whalley after their time together as MIT students. The two assembled a team and developed the first generation Gocap in rapid iterations, cooperatively with injectable medicine users. In studies at the Joslin Diabetes Center and UMass Memorial Medical Center, providers have found that Gocap insulin data increases the standard of care and reveals previously unidentified issues in almost every insulin user. Now Common Sensing is going to market with Gocaps for injector pens in multiple indications, drawing support from key channel partners, such as Haselmeier, a developer of innovative self-injection solutions.
"This financing allows us to launch the commercial activities and manufacturing operations necessary to support our growing customer base," said Kevin Schmid, Chief Operating Officer of Common Sensing. "I've seen the impact that precision insulin dosing can have on the lives of people with diabetes, and it's time to put that capability into millions of hands."
About Common Sensing
Common Sensing is a Cambridge, MA based company that develops and manufactures data-driven hardware and software solutions for people using injectable medicine. Founded in 2012, Common Sensing has assembled a team of talented designers and engineers to develop Gocap, the first smart cap that turns existing injector pens into smart injectors. Gocap connects insulin, GLP-1, fertility hormone, and human growth hormone injector pens to the cloud to improve decision making and outcomes and make everyday treatment more convenient.
About Waterline Ventures
Waterline Ventures invests in early stage healthcare technology and services companies that are improving the way care is delivered. Increasing costs, inconsistent quality, and inadequate access to healthcare create the need for innovation. Companies that address these issues stand to create tremendous value while improving people's lives across the country and around the world. Waterline is based in Boston, MA.
About New World Health
New World Health is a New York based venture capital firm. It focuses on investing in health and wellness companies, medical devices, and healthcare technology. New World Health looks to add value and expertise in each of their investments by leveraging the extensive and diverse backgrounds of the managing partners.
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