San Diego-based GlySens says it has raised $12 million in Series C funding to advance its wireless technology for an implantable sensor that could be used to monitor blood sugar levels in people with diabetes.
No investors were identified in the statement issued by GlySens, which says only that several new investors participated in the round, along with a group of existing investors.
The San Diego-based West Health Investment Fund made an undisclosed investment in GlySens in 2012. New York’s Windham Venture Partners lists GlySens as a portfolio company on its website, and managing partner Adam Fine is a GlySens board member.
GlySens was founded in 1998 by David Gough, a professor of bioengineering at UC San Diego, and GlySens CEO Joseph Lucisano.
GlySens plans to use the capital infusion to advance its implantable continuous glucose monitoring system, which includes a wireless glucose sensor that would be implanted just under the skin for a year or longer.
In a 2010 interview with U-T San Diego, Gough said the sensor would be implanted near the collarbone or in the lower abdomen during an outpatient procedure using local anesthesia that would require just a few stitches to close the incision. The sensor data is transmitted to a receiver that displays the data, and GlySens says its approach has “significant advantages” over existing continuous glucose monitoring systems.
The FDA has approved several continuous glucose-monitoring devices, including one made by San Diego-based DexCom (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DXCM]]). But they all use wired sensors that must be inserted under the skin, and replaced at least once a week. The sensors can stop working if the wires are dislodged.
