In May, we wrote about the Wixom, MI-based company Rockwell Medical, which disrupted the dialysis industry by being the first to develop, patent, and bring to market a dry acid mixing system for hemodialysis concentrate.
Last week, the company announced it had secured $20 million in debt financing from Hercules Technology Growth Capital, which is based in Palo Alto. Rockwell CEO Rob Chioini said in the press release that the money will allow the company to get complete Phase 3 clinical trials of Soluble Ferric Pyrophosphate (SFP), an iron salt administered to dialysis patients through dialysate to replace the iron lost during dialysis.
In the late 1990s, Rockwell revolutionized the dialysis industry by being the first to develop, patent, and bring to market a dry acid mixing system for hemodialysis concentrate. With this new product, Rockwell hopes to significantly decrease the need for expensive erythropoietin stimulating agents (ESAs), drugs that treat anemia in kidney dialysis patients. Once in the dialysate, SFP mimics the way dietary iron is processed in the human body, making it much gentler to the system.
Rockwell is planning to release data from its Phase 3 studies relating to SFP in late summer.
