Munich-based VisionHealth has successfully closed a EUR 3 million Pre-Series A financing round. The e-health start-up is a specialist in digital support for inhalation therapy for the treatment of chronic respiratory diseases such as COPD and asthma and plans to use the money for a study on its digital health app Kata®.
Incorrect use of inhaled medications is a common problem for patients with chronic respiratory diseases. For example, too little drug deposition in the lungs can ultimately trigger worsening in chronic lung diseases, such as bronchial asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Start-up VisionHealth has therefore developed the Kata® health app, a certified medical device, to improve inhalation treatment for respiratory diseases. The app controls therapeutic inhalation using artificial intelligence and gives patients concrete feedback on each inhalation.
Now the Munich-based company has raised three million euros through DB Speciality Invest GmbH & Co. KG, Neu-Ulm, Germany. The owner of this investment company is life science entrepreneur Dr. Dietrich Bruchmann, founder and managing director of contract research company Nuvisan Pharma Holding GmbH.
VisionHealth, founded 2017, intends to use the fresh capital to fund a second, larger study to provide decision makers and physicians with even stronger scientific evidence to evaluate and potentially recommend Kata®. The study is designed as a randomly controlled, multi-centric trial over the period of one year with around 120 patients suffering from chronic respiratory diseases asthma or COPD. It will set the basis for market access of Kata® in Germany, further EU countries and potentially, the U.S.. At the same time VisionHealth is working on strategic partnerships to gain growth and tailor its proprietary Kata® technology platform to the specific needs of the industry.
In July 2022, the start-up had entered into a collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim.
Dr. Dietrich Bruchmann, founder and CEO ofNuvisan Pharma Holding Group, said: “I am eager to see the potential ofKata® unfold, as access for asthma and COPD patients improves. Heading aCRO active in the respiratory field, I have also been intrigued by the application of the Kata® Clinical app in clinical trials: Incorrect inhaled admission of therapeutics can be amajor error factor. Supporting each patient individually via the app onhow to administer an inhalator properly improves patient outcomes in everyday life and also the quality of clinical trial results, ensuring maximum benefit from therapy.”
Dr. Sabine Haeussermann, CEO and founder of VisionHealth, added: “We are excited to back up the very positive proof of concept study results with more data on the efficiency of Kata®. With over 2.400 users since the first release, a stunning 83.3 % of users told us they would like to continue using the Kata® Appin the future; similar amounts of users would recommend the app to friends with respiratory diseases. It is truly rewarding to see how we can make a difference for patients and improve health outcomes. We greatly appreciate the continued support of our shareholders and of our new investor, Dr. Buchmann from Nuvisan!”