Apieron Inc. Secures Series D Commitments
PRNewswire -- In its Series D round of fundraising, Apieron Inc. said that it closed on commitments from all of its previous venture investors. The round presently includes Alliance Technology Ventures, Canaan Partners, Draper Fisher Jervetson and Onset Ventures.
"With commitments from our previous venture investors, we are more than well on our way to securing our financing target and closing the round," said Holly McGarraugh, Apieron President and CEO. "The ongoing support of our past investors is a significant vote of confidence in our plan to improve the treatment of asthma with the simple, accurate, safe and efficient measurement of exhaled nitric oxide, a well-documented marker for airway inflammation."
Apieron is a medical device company dedicated to developing innovative solutions to improve the standard of care for people with asthma. Its Insight(TM) eNO System measures exhaled nitric oxide (eNO) which is a well established indicator of airway inflammation for asthma management. Utilizing a proprietary biosensor, Apieron's Insight eNO System can detect trace amounts of nitric oxide in a patient's breath. It is highly accurate, non-invasive, safe, easy to use, and provides results in less than a minute. Current methods and techniques used to manage and treat asthma are costly, time-consuming and cumbersome.
A much awaited breakthrough in medical technology, and designed for the physician's office, the Insight eNO System is a practical and affordable device for inflammatory airway measurement in asthma. The measurement of eNO has also been shown to optimize medication therapy and improve compliance among patients with asthma.
Since closing its C round in 2007, Apieron received FDA clearance for its Insight eNO System in March 2008 and began selling to physicians offices in the United States. Apieron has also secured FDA clearance for a multi-use sensor, which improves clinical practice flow by providing up to 10 tests on a single sensor, virtually eliminating the warm-up time between patient tests. The funds in the Series D round are to be used for market growth and additional product development.
It is estimated that more than 26 million people in the U.S. suffer from asthma, making it one of the most common and costly of all diseases. In fact, every day in America 40,000 people miss school or work due to asthma and 5,000 people go to the emergency room due to an asthma attack. One-quarter of all emergency room visits are asthma related and asthma is the most common chronic childhood disease.
About the Insight eNO System
The Insight eNO System has been available for use in the physician's office since March 2008. The system uses a proprietary biosensor technology to measure exhaled nitric oxide, a well established indicator of asthma severity and steroid responsive airway inflammation. Measuring eNO and determining the level of airway inflammation can help clinicians more closely manage their patients' inflammatory condition and therefore more precisely titrate medications, which can lead to fewer asthma exacerbations.
About Apieron Inc.
Apieron Inc. is a private, venture-backed medical device company based in Menlo Park, CA that was formed in early 2001 to develop a simple-to-use, non-invasive monitor for the measurement of exhaled nitric oxide (eNO) for the management of asthma. The Apieron biosensor technology platform utilizes a patented technology that allows for the highly sensitive detection of selected analytes like eNO. Apieron is committed to collaborating with physicians and patients to develop innovative medical solutions to improve quality of life and standards of care.