Drug Delivery Wearables Company on Path to $50M Round

^{Enable Injections says its drug delivery wearable could improve medication adherence.}

Drug adherence might not always be such a thorn in healthcare’s side. Instead, it could be a wearable attached to a patient’s side.

If this vision does become reality, Enable Injections, a company that develops such drug delivery wearables, could be a major player in the market. That’s clearer today than before, with news that the organization closed its first investment in a Series B round that’s poised to hit $50 million.

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Pharma kingpin Sanofi led the round, with backing from existing investors ORI Healthcare Fund, CincyTech, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Cintrifuse, Ohio Innovation Fund, Cleveland Clinic and others, drawing on Enable Injections’ Ohio roots.

The company builds wearables that drive the subcutaneous delivery of biologics and “other high-volume” therapeutics to patients. The medications treat many kinds of cancers, autoimmune diseases and genetic disorders, often in doses that are larger than 5mL, meaning they require “costly, inconvenient” intravenous administration. Enable Injections’ enFuse wearable negates the need for that by delivering biologics under the skin.

“Enable Injections has made significant progress and is now a clinical stage company with its initial products in human clinical trials,” noted John Rice, Ph.D., the director of life sciences for CincyTech and an Enable Injections board member. “This financing will enable the company to advance to a commercial scale and bring its first products to market. The investment and partnership with Sanofi provide that commercial validation.”

If all goes as planned, the enFuse could help boost medication adherence, a constant struggle for pharma companies and healthcare providers alike. By attaching to a patient and enabling self-administration with the push of a button, the technology could prove more convenient than taking a pill or heading to the clinic for an injection.

But only time may tell whether patients will adhere to wearing the device.

Right now, the devices are available for pharma and biotech investigational use.

Founded in 2011, Enable Injections raised at least $32 million prior to today’s news, according to the startup tracker Crunchbase.

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