By Oonagh Cassidy
Galway-based medical technology company SymPhysis Medical has received a $1.25 million non-dilutive grant from the Rhode Island Life Science Hub.
The funding will help the team establish its first U.S. base and speed up regulatory work on the releaze™ Drainage System; an at-home device designed for cancer patients.
The grant is part of a new $4.5 million funding round announced this week by the Rhode Island Life Science Hub, a group focused on growing Rhode Island’s biotech sector and backed by the state’s government.
The Hub was launched with a $45 million state investment and has now deployed more than $20 million to attract promising companies, boost infrastructure and support innovation-led economic growth.
SymPhysis Medical is developing the releaze™ Drainage System to help people with malignant pleural effusion, a serious and common complication of advanced cancers. The condition affects more than 150,000 people in the U.S. each year.
The condition causes fluid build-up in the chest, leading to severe breathlessness, pain and repeated hospital visits.
The device aims to offer a more comfortable, home-friendly alternative to indwelling pleural catheters.
It uses a safety-valve catheter and a small external hub so patients and caregivers can manage drainage themselves.
Tim Jones, co-founder and CEO of SymPhysis Medical, called the grant a “step change” for the company. He said it will allow SymPhysis to put a team on the ground in the U.S. and finish essential testing.
“For Irish medtech, the northeast corridor is where many big decisions in cancer care are made,” Mr. Jones said.
He adds that Rhode Island’s support shows strong international confidence in the company’s mission to improve quality of life for late-stage cancer patients.
Jones mentions that current treatment options are still invasive and demanding on healthcare resources.
“Our goal is straightforward. We want someone with advanced cancer to breathe more easily at home, spend less time in the hospital and feel more in control,” he said.
SymPhysis Medical has already raised more than €4 million from Irish and European investors and health innovation programmes.
The new U.S. grant, worth roughly €1.1 million, brings public-sector American backing into the mix as SymPhysis prepares to grow its clinical and commercial work from a new Rhode Island base, while continuing to expand engineering and operations in Galway.
The award comes through the Rhode Island Life Science Hub’s New Business Attraction programme, which supports life science companies setting up in the state for the first time.