Metyos is developing a biowearable device to monitor chronic kidney disease

Alexandre Boulanger is famous for creating self-balancing exoskeletons at Wandercraft.for his next trick Headquartered in Paris Robotics entrepreneurs are developing a lighter wearable device: an arm-worn patch for monitoring chronic kidney disease (CKD). This medical technology startup— Metyos, of which Boulanger serves as CEO, is a joint effort: Co-founded with CTO Olga Chashchina, who has a PhD in biomedical engineering, where she gained special expertise in biosensors, the pair What is done here is crucial.

In recent years, interest in biowearable devices has surged due to developments such as the commercialization of continuous glucose monitors (CGM) for diabetes management. At the same time, rising costs of health care delivery are putting greater pressure on service industries to find smarter ways to address costly issues like chronic disease management without compromising service quality. Biowearable devices offer a potential avenue to help address a range of chronic health issues.

Metyos aims to build arm-worn (semi-invasive) real-time sensing technology similar to that used in diabetes management, so the technology can also detect chemical changes in fluids under the skin, but with a focus on tracking biomarkers relevant to chronic kidney disease. It wants doctors to prescribe its bio-wearable device as part of a remote treatment management package for patients – suggesting the approach could help doctors spot warning signs related to kidney disease remotely Failure and hyperkalemia.

For patients, the goal is to provide advice (e.g. diet) and a better understanding of CKD through the app, allowing them to become more actively involved in their care. So the startup is taking a two-sided approach, aiming to bring data-driven insights to doctors and patients. It seems smart, and necessary: ​​If mobile technology has done anything, it’s made consumers expect to be able to access information and stay informed.

The startup said its biowearable device will monitor the buildup of ions and minerals in the blood when kidney function is affected, sending the data via Bluetooth to an app on the user’s smartphone. From there, the technology will be designed to forward user data to Metyos’ secure servers in the cloud, where health professionals monitoring patients’ conditions can access the data and track disease progression remotely.

As Boulanger puts it, the team began development of Metyos back in 2021 with the help of “some love money” and public funding. So far, they have built a prototype of the biowearable device and conducted some bench testing.

They have just closed a €2.3 million (approximately $2.5 million) pre-seed round to fund the next phase of development, which will require clinical trials to further evaluate and refine the technology. Major investors in this round include Cenitz, Bpifrance and KIMA Ventures.

As a medical technology startup, Boulanger confirmed that Metyos will not bring its technology to market without regulatory approval, which he said is aimed at the end of 2025. In terms of target markets, the team is focusing on Europe (especially the home market of France) and the United States. Generally speaking, Boulanger said the focus is on markets for remote patient monitoring reimbursement that exist and/or are developing.

How did this serial entrepreneur get the idea to start a business? “I gained a lot of weight, so I became interested in nutrition tracking as well as biochemistry tracking,” he told TechCrunch.

At the same time, the co-founder of Boulanger, Chaszczyna, Dealing with chronic health issues. So when the two’s interests met, they decided to build a bio-wearable device. “She must Performed numerous blood draws and wanted to have a tool to help her manage her condition on a day-to-day basis,” he noted. “So we took a user/patient perspective on biowearables and collaborated Contact the doctor as early as possible to refine clinical needs. “

This startup aims to develop a sensing wearable device that improves performance Improve the health status of CKD patients and the financial health of the healthcare system through remote biomonitoring of chronic disease patients.

Statistics cited by Metyos indicate that there are more than 800 million CKD patients worldwide.

“CKD is one of the major chronic diseases in terms of prevalence, mortality, and cost. It is a progressive disease with no cure (but there are many treatments for related conditions) Therefore, it is critical for patients to slow or stop the progression of the disease,” Boulanger said. “We believe remote monitoring allows us to predict adverse events, empowers clinicians to make timely clinical decisions, and enables patients to become more involved in their daily care. “

“We will start with end-stage patients who have hyperkalemia issues and expand our scope to early-stage patients,” he added.

It’s still early days for Metyos, but competition in the space is intensifying as interest in biowearables grows.but IIts focus on CKD sets it apart from many of its wearable competitors. Boulanger lists five startups as its main competitors: Biolinq, Alio, Protonintel, Kalium Health, and Renalyse — the latter two also focus on kidney disease, but in their cases, patient tracking is based on home blood draws rather than real-time data pulled from biometric wearables.