Israeli developer of medical devices for patient monitoring, Serenno Medical has announced that global producer of medical devices, Elcam Medical has invested in the company and will also manufacture Sentinel, Serenno's urine output and intra-abdominal pressure digital monitoring device for the detection of acute kidney injury (AKI). 

Elcam Medical join existing investors Alon Medtech and serial medical device inventor, entrepreneur and investor, Dr Shimon Eckhouse.

WHY IT MATTERS

The partnership combines Serenno’s kidney device with Elcam’s manufacturing experience to enable the use of Sentinel in a variety of hospital environments.

Kidney function assessment allows the early detection of AKI, a common condition in hospitalised patients that increases risk of mortality during and after hospitalisation.

Accurate measurement of urine output (UO) is clinically accepted as the best method for monitoring changes in kidney function. However, UO is currently monitored intermittently and manually by ICU staff, therefore acute changes in urine flow are difficult to detect. Thus, kidney injury is often detected relatively late, sometimes after it is impossible to prevent further progression.  

Sentinel ensures continuous measurement of urine volume and flow rate in real time. The system promotes early detection of kidney injury, while there is still time to intervene and prevent further damage. It aims to automatically detect small changes in kidney function, allowing remote detection by the medical staff.

Beyond the high death toll associated with kidney failure routinely in the ICU, the recent spread of COVID-19 has the increased prevalence of AKI, while increasing the exposure risk on medical professionals and ICUs worldwide. 

THE LARGER CONTEXT

Innovators in the kidney care space, Renalytix AI and DaVita are together offering their services through a risk-assessing and care-management program for patients with early-stage kidney disease.

Last year, pharma giant Otsuka rolled-out a new kidney focused platform called NephU that provides online resources about nephrology conditions and a place for clinicians to collaborate and share information amongst themselves, and with patients. 

ON THE RECORD

Tomer Lark, Serenno’s co-founder and CEO said: "The investment by Elcam Medical is a strong endorsement, and will allow us to swiftly move toward commercialisation of our device. Elcam’s world class production capabilities and experience, will enable mass production and increased market access of Sentinel. Our plan is to begin deployment of the devices in several US hospitals towards the end of 2021, in the hope to eventually reduce kidney failure risk for every patient at ICUs."

Dr Shimon Eckhouse, Serenno’s Chairman, said: "We are pleased with Elcam's investment, which marks the first commitment in Serenno's larger planned current financial round. This partnership with Elcam is an excellent indication of the high degree of innovation and the significance of Serenno's solution for the advancement of monitoring technologies. We are confident that Elcam's leadership position in the global point-of-care market will play a critical role in bringing Serenno’s exciting technology to ICUs and patients around the world."