바이오스펙테이터

by Euna Lee

EOFlOW, which develops wearable disposable insulin pumps, has successfully attracted 14 million dollars in series C investment. The company plans to speed up the development of wearable artificial panceras with the production of 'EOPatch', which was approved to sell domestic grade 4 medical devices last year, and new products.

Eoflow announced on April 8th that they completed 9 million dollars from series C in April and succeeded in attracting investment of 14 million dollars total after completing the additional series C +, where funded of 5 million dollars recently. In this round, Huons and Hastings asset Management joined the existing investors, LB investments and Idea Bridge Partners. Eoflow acquired more than 22 million dollars in funds including 2.5 million dollars from series A and 5.5 million dollars from series B.

Jesse Kim, CEO of Eoflow said, "With this fund, we will invest in the production, global marketing and new product development of Eopatch, our first product. Especially, since this year, we will focus on the development of a disposable wearable artificial pancreas called EOPancreas."

Most people with type 1 diabetes are insulin resistant in which insulin is not produced in their body. No oral medications have been developed and most patients are self administering to the abdomen subcutaneously 4 to 7 times a day with a pen-type insulin injector. However, the self-administration method has a limitation in the administration of an appropriate amount. Recently, the insulin pump has been developed into a wearable insulin patch pump which injects insulin into the body of a patient and injects an appropriate amount of insulin.

In December last year, Eoflow received a license from the Korea Food and Drug Administration(KFDA) to sell the company's first product, the fourth grade medical device of the wearable insulin injection patch pump, the 'EOPatch'. From the second half of this year, Huons will be exclusively responsible for selling the EOPatch to the domestic market.

From this year, they are planning to concentrate on the development of wearable artificial pancreas. 'EOPancreas' is a miniaturized disposable wearable artificial pancreas performed by a closed-loop system. Type 1 and type 2 diabetic patients can automatically and precisely administer adjusted insulin doses to individual patients via a controller and bluetooth connection. It has waterproof and dustproof function, and it is possible to carry out activities such as showering or swimming while attaching the product.

Particularly, the application of the electro-osmotic pump technology makes it possible to use the insulin patch in a smaller size and with only one attachment, it can be injected for up to 3 days without any pain, so that patients with diabetes who have difficulties in insulin self-injection including pediatric patients can easily use it.

Ceo Kim said, "Clinical trials are scheduled to start from the second half of this year. First, we will start clinical trials of insulin patch pumps for patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes, and plan to expand the clinical trials step by step to include artificial pancreas and an artificial pancreas using an insulin pump and a separate sensor. Ultimately, we aim to develop an all-in-one wearable artifical pancreas that can be used in children with diabetes."

In January, for the first time in Korea, Eoflow agreed to cooperate in developing automatic insulin supply system, sponsored by American juvenile diabetes research foundation(JDRF).