Piomic Medical, a Zurich based ETH Start-up and pioneer in the development of innovative medical devices for the treatment of hard-to-heal wounds, today announces the closing of its oversubscribed Series A round lead by Swiss Diabetes Venture Fund (SDVF). Additional new investors joining the round include Verve Ventures, Zürcher Kantonalbank, NEST pension fund, a conglomerate of private investors as well as participation through the SERI-funded EIC Accelerator Grant for ground-breaking Swiss innovations.

Lead Investor Swiss Diabetes Venture Fund

The financing round is led by SDVF, Europe’s first venture fund dedicated to diabetes technology. With one in every ten adults affected, diabetes is the fastest growing chronic disease and a key driver of soaring healthcare costs.
“Every 20 seconds a leg of a diabetic patient is amputated, making diabetes the leading cause of major amputations in modern healthcare systems.” says Investment Director Craig Cooper at SDVF. “We are excited about Piomic’s unique value proposition to address a huge unmet medical need for patients around the world.” Bringing together a unique constellation of partners to invest with impact globally in exceptional diabetes technology startups, SDVF leverages the power, knowhow and networks of Serpentine Ventures, the investment arm of the Swiss Ventures Group, and the DCB, a global center for technology innovation in diabetes.

Publication multicentric clinical trial and market feedback

Following the publication of its first-in-human clinical trial, Piomic recently demonstrated significant clinical benefits of its technology in therapy-refractory wounds of various etiologies. In a multicenter, prospective, comparative clinical trial the safety and effectiveness of COMS® treatment was investigated in wound care excellence centers in Switzerland.
“In this study, the COMS® therapy significantly reduced the time to wound closure for hard-to-heal wounds when compared with SOC alone, and could therefore lead to substantial savings in healthcare time and costs. In addition to its clinical effectiveness, it can enable patient self-management and fasten the timely transfer of patients with persistently high-cost conditions towards a more cost-effective treatment setting.” – Reinboldt-Jockenhöfer et al.
Furthermore, Piomic introduced its product in selected global advanced wound care markets during an initial soft launch, receiving great customer feedback with over 5.000 treatments performed and 450 patients treated. Clinicians and nurses are impressed by the effectiveness and ease of use of COMS® therapy.

Expanding clinical research towards the United States

Piomic is now initiating a large randomized controlled trial (RCT) to strengthen the body of evidence for clinical efficacy and subsequent US market clearance of COMS® therapy via the FDA De-Novo pathway. The “MAVERICKS” clinical trial focuses on the beneficial effects of COMS® treatment in patients suffering from therapy refractory diabetic foot ulcers. These hard-to-heal wounds pose a particular challenge for patients and therapists, but also have severe economic implications for healthcare systems, and society as a whole. In the US alone, it is estimated that the cost of chronic wound care ranges from 28 to 50 billion USD per year. Further non-dilutive funding will be used to integrate COMS® therapy with telemedicine solutions to navigate the complex care-delivery system for chronic wound patients at home.