BBI Completes $9 Million Series A Financing
Funding Will Support SEM Scanner Commercialization in Europe
LOS ANGELES and MANCHESTER, United Kingdom, Jan. 8, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Bruin Biometrics, LLC ("BBI"), a developer of innovative sensor-based diagnostic products, today announced the closing of a $9 million financing. The round was financed by new and existing investors. Proceeds from the financing will be used to accelerate the commercialization of the SEM Scanner, a hand-held device for detecting early-stage pressure ulcers.
BBI launched the SEM Scanner in 2014 in the United Kingdom and Ireland after receiving CE Mark approval. The device's introduction has been met with enthusiasm from clinicians and growing sales throughout the region. "Fewer patients are developing pressure ulcers in the UK and Ireland when nurses use the Scanner," said Martin Burns, BBI's CEO. "We are now equipping BBI with the resources to match the demand for the Scanner, which is growing as more people learn about the device's clinical impact and the consequential cost savings for the health system."
"Now that we have seen remarkable clinical results from early adopters, we have the financing needed to support initiatives to make the Scanner the standard of care at every hospital and long-term care facility," said BBI CFO Sammy Lai.
BBI will continue to invest in commercial infrastructure and clinical education programs to expand Scanner usage throughout the region. One such initiative, the BBI Pressure Ulcer Reduction Program, enabled UK National Health Service acute care hospital wards utilizing the SEM Scanner to reduce pressure ulcer occurrence to zero and to record a savings of £50,000 per month, according to findings reported in Nursing Times.
In the United States, BBI is working with the FDA to make the SEM Scanner available in 2016.
About Pressure Ulcers
Pressure ulcers are a common medical problem that can lead to pain, disfigurement, infection and death. Also known as bedsores, pressure sores or decubitis ulcers, pressure ulcers are an area of localized damage to the skin and underlying tissue – usually around an area of bony prominence, such as the sacrum, coccyx, heels, and hips – that results from pressure involving shear and/or friction. Across Europe and the United States, it is estimated that 18%-25% of patients in both acute care and long-term care settings suffer from pressure ulcers, disproportionately impacting the elderly and patients with limited mobility. There are some 2.5 million pressure ulcer cases annually in the European Union, with nearly 500,000 of those cases in the United Kingdom: a 2.1bn problem to the NHS. In the U.S., some 2.5 million Americans develop pressure ulcers annually in acute care facilities, and 60,000 Americans die annually from pressure ulcer complications such as cancer, sepsis, cellulitis, and MRSA.
About the SEM Scanner
SEM Scanner is a hand-held device to detect early-stage pressure ulcers and deep tissue injury (DTI). SEM Scanner uses non-invasive biosensor technology to measure sub-epidermal moisture (SEM), a biophysical marker associated with localized edema in the initial inflammatory phase of pressure ulcer formation. SEM has been found to indicate tissue damage three to ten days before visible symptoms or pressure ulcer formation. The SEM Scanner produces real-time information to clinicians for the objective evaluation of tissue health status. SEM Scanner is CE Mark approved and launched in the UK market in 2014. BBI is working with FDA to make the SEM Scanner available in the US market in 2016.
About BBI
BBI focuses on developing solutions for wound care, orthopedic care and real-time data capture, analytics and reporting. Leveraging BBI's passive sensor technology, the company's portable devices produce actionable data for evidence-based assessments. Innovation at BBI is realized through collaboration between the company's research and development and clinical teams, where every team member is an expert in his or her respective field. BBI applies rigorous scientific, technical and clinical standards to drive product development and address unmet and urgent clinical needs. BBI is based in Los Angeles and maintains a European office in Manchester, UK.
For additional information, visit www.bruinbiometrics.com. Follow BBI on Twitter at https://twitter.com/bruinbiometrics.
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