When people reference the fact that the human body is made up of approximately 55% water, not much attention is paid to interstitial fluid — the thin layer of fluid that surrounds the body's cells — that makes up almost 40% of that number. It accounts for about a sixth of our body weight. Using new technology to monitor and access the fluid, researchers have been able to develop continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) sensors, which detect trends and patterns that could give patients a more complete picture of their diabetes.
Providence biotech company Kiffik Biomedical Inc. wants to take that tech to the next level, with a wearable, noninvasive product that provides continuous access to native interstitial fluid in humans and animals. In addition to monitoring glucose, the monitor has other applications, including providing prognostic biomarkers in preclinical and clinical drug development, monitoring of pathogens for patients in ICU and vaccine development, according to the company.
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Kiffik Biomedical CEO George Cagna said the company also plans to license its IP to become the “engine” to facilitate faster therapeutic developments which could transform medical, life science and health-monitoring industries.
“The impact of our IP will affect our daily lives changing the way we monitor our own personal health. diagnostics and research as we know it,” he said.
Close to Closing Series A Round
This week, Kiffik Biomedical Inc. reported an $830,000 fundraising contribution toward its Series A round of funding of $15 million. Cagna said the company is “in the end” of its Series A and closed a seed round of $4 million.
Cagna said the Kiffik Biomedical Inc. story started back in 2007 when Kiffik's inventor Dr. Abdeltif Essalik's brother passed away from complications managing his Diabetes.
“Dr. Essalik focused his career to invent a better solution for real-time glucose monitoring, as well as drug(insulin) delivery,” Cagna said. “Our goal was to create a wearable device to extract Interstitial Fluid non-invasively and on a continuous basis.”
Cagna announced the team’s first prototype in 2013, and patents were granted in 2018. In 2021, he said, Kiffik started the commercial operation they are today. According to a Kiffik info sheet, final prototypes are expected in the fourth quarter of this year, at which point the company will begin a road show to attain licensing agreements.
Kiffik Biomedical Inc. currently has 20 employees in four countries. Cagna said it doesn’t plan on hiring additional people until first-quarter 2023.
“We plan on being the intel chip of the diagnostics/biotech/wearable technology space and to license out IP to partners. From market research reports by 2030 Kiffik Biomedical Inc. market will have approximately a trillion dollar market cap,” Cagna said. “I feel our potential expected growth to be on par with great startups like Amazon, Facebook, Tesla and Netflix.”
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A previous version of this story incorrectly spelled Kiffik Biomedical Inc.
