Koneksa, a company that develops and implements patient-centric digital biomarkers for drug development, has closed a $16 million Series B financing round. The funds will be used to expand the development of Koneksa’s digital platform for integrating wearables, sensors, and other patient-facing technologies into clinical research.
The round was led by Spring Mountain Capital, with new investors McKesson Ventures, Novartis Pharma AG, and MBX Capital. The company’s existing investors also participated in the round.
Since its 2015 launch, Koneksa has partnered with pharmaceutical and biotech companies to develop and implement digital biomarkers that support clinical development programs across therapeutic areas ranging from neuroscience and respiratory health, to rare diseases and oncology. Validation studies of Koneksa’s technology have been published in leading peer-reviewed journals and presented at numerous scientific conferences and meetings.
What Koneksa offers is an easy-to-use solution based on its software-as-a-service platform and mobile applications that facilitate gathering, monitoring, and analysis of patient-generated data collected at home and remotely. Koneksa’s mobile assessments and the ability to work with a variety of existing wearable sensors allow for a broad range of data inputs.
“The use of remote sensors, wearables, and new mobile technologies to better capture the patient experience is rapidly changing the way clinical trials are conducted,” said McKesson Ventures Partner Carrie Hurwitz Williams. “Effective digital biomarkers will be an essential part of conducting trials in the future.”
“We are delighted to work with such a strong team of investors and advisors who share our vision for the power of digital tools to accelerate the development of novel therapeutics,” said Koneksa Co-founder and CEO Chris Benko. “Digital biomarkers have as much potential to transform the development of new medicines as the molecular, imaging, and fluid biomarkers of the last two decades. This new capital will support a sustained investment in expanding their use and adoption in clinical research programs globally.”
Read the press release here.