Medtronic, Itochu invest in 'intelligent medicine'
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
Medtech giant Medtronic and Japanese conglomerate Itochu have taken a stake in Proteus Biomedical, a Redwood City, California-based company specialising in in-body electronics and sensor technologies that are then integrated into existing medical devices and pharmaceuticals to improve therapeutic outcomes. Contributions from Medtronic and Itochu helped Proteus raise $32m in a series D equity financing. Proteus' existing shareholders – which include, among others, St Jude Medical, Kaiser Permanente Ventures and various venture capitalists – also injected some funding. This current round will remain open "for a period of time" to additional investors, said Proteus. The firm will use the cash to move its cardiovascular device programmes through development and manufacturing, and advance its cardiovascular pharmaceutical programmes into human clinical trials.