Enable Injections, a medical device maker and the region’s top-funded startup, has landed millions in incentives as it looks to more than double its headcount locally. The move also will add nearly $20 million in new payroll as the company looks to hit key milestones in 2023 and beyond.
Evendale-based Enable, which is developing a device called the enFuse, plans to add 257 full-time jobs and nearly $19.9 million in new payroll by calendar year 2027. That equates to an average annual salary of nearly $77,300.
The company also is committed to retaining 193 jobs with a payroll of $20.4 million, or an average salary of more than $105,600. Enable currently employs 180 people across three sites in Greater Cincinnati.
Enable CEO and founder Mike Hooven said the company is largely looking to add operations and skilled manufacturing positions, among other hires. Enable is gearing up as it looks for U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for the enFuse sometime in 2023. That would be considered a major inflection point.
The enFuse has the potential to replace traditional IV therapy, with several differentiators that could catapult Enable into a multibillion-dollar enterprise, Hooven said.
“This is going to revolutionize IV drug delivery, and we believe it’s going to be the standard of care,” he told me. “Other companies have tried to do this – big companies – and they can’t. If this is not at least a $5 billion business, I’m doing something wrong, even $10, $20 or $30 billion. There’s uncertainty in the timeframe. Will it take five years? Seven years? But we’re certain in the revenue. It’s going to be significant.”
As part of the hiring push, the Ohio Tax Credit Authority Monday approved a 2.009%, 10-year job creation tax credit, valued at an estimated $3.25 million.
Pending additional funds from JobsOhio, Enable could potentially receive more than $5 million to support its jobs push.
Besides the state and JobsOhio, REDI Cincinnati also provided support.
“Enable has been on a rapid expansion since 2015, and we are proud to support its growth in the Cincinnati region,” Kevin Donnelly, REDI Cincinnati’s vice president for project management, said in a release. “This success can be attributed to several factors (including) exceptional products and strong company leadership, a region that fosters growth due to access to STEM and manufacturing talent and support from a business community.”
Enable, founded in 2010, is solely developing and manufacturing the enFuse, an investigational wearable drug delivery device. Hooven, who also founded now-publicly traded Atricure, a Mason-based medical device maker known for its focus on atrial fibrillation, said it is one of the biggest disruptions he’s ever seen in health care.
A palm-sized circular disk, the enFuse is designed to deliver large volumes of medication via subcutaneous administration (through the skin) and can be used for a wide range of therapies and diseases.
Enable said the enFuse can deliver a drug more quickly than traditional IV administration and provides a safer, convenient and more cost-effective form of treatment. A recent study by Enable showed the switch from a traditional IV to its device saved the average patient $1,000 per month.
Hooven called that a conservative estimate. More detailed studies are underway now.
To date, Enable has raised more than $311 million in funding, including a $215 million Series C from January – a record-high raise for a Greater Cincinnati startup.
Its backers include drugmaker Sanofi; Magnetar Capital, an Illinois-based hedge fund; Squarepoint Capital; Woody Creek Capital Partners; Cincinnati Children’s Hospital; CincyTech; Cintrifuse; Cleveland Clinic and Ohio Innovation Fund, among others.
Hooven has not disclosed the company’s valuation but Enable is likely one of the region’s rare unicorns, a title reserved for startups worth $1 billion or more. Over-the-Rhine data orchestration company Astronomer and Hamilton-based vertical farmer 80 Acres also recently closed $213 million and $160 million rounds, respectively, catapulting them into that domain.
Tim Flaherty, Enable’s chief financial officer, said the next step is an initial public offering, or IPO. The timing depends on FDA approval and market conditions.
As that happens, the company also will look to add administrative roles and finance, IT and marketing positions, in addition to the manufacturing jobs.
Enable, he said, did consider other states, including Indiana, as part of its planned expansion. Besides Evendale, Enable has locations in West Chester and Franklin.
“Cincinnati is a great place to do business,” Flaherty said. “These incentives are a way to anchor our expertise here. We have the human factor, the expertise. We’re committed.”
