Enzyre Secures €1.4M to Advance Portable Device to Monitor Coagulation

Novalis Biotechnology is supporting a €1.4 million ($1.64 million) investment in Enzyre to finalize the development of a handheld diagnostic device to monitor blood coagulation status in people with hemophilia, and to secure regulatory approval.

The funding comes as a Corona Bridge Loan, granted by the Dutch government to support innovative start-ups and scale-ups, Enzyre announced in a press release.

“We are pleased to welcome Novalis Biotechnology Incubation to our investor base. The Novalis team is very well aligned with Enzyre’s strategy to ‘bring the laboratory to the patient,’ enabling them to avoid hospital visits,” said Dirk Pollet, Enzyre’s CEO.

Named Enzypad, the device is to be a near-patient test (NPT), similar in function to the glucose monitors used by diabetics to manage their blood sugar. The first Enzypad products, the company states on its website, will focus on blood coagulation, Enzyre’s core expertise.

Using a blood sampling device — called TAP in the case of hemophilia — a patient will collect a small sample of their blood. This device is painless and easy to use, according to the company.

This small blood drop is then to be placed into a card called an Enzycard, which contains all the reagents necessary to perform up to 16 coagulation tests that measure up to 12 biomarkers of blood coagulation.

When the card is inserted into the Enzypad, the processor will analyze these reactions and automatically send the results to a patient’s phone via a mobile phone app called Enzy.

These results are expected to have the same quality as if performed on the large instruments available in specialized laboratories, the company states, and can be shared with the patient’s physicians in real-time.

Such data may provide early warnings of changes in bleeding risk, preventing crises caused by sudden changes in coagulation state. Frequent, real-time data of this nature should make it possible for patients and their healthcare providers to work together to optimize individual treatment.

The test can be performed in any location, including at home. NPT tools facilitate remote personalized and data-based disease management via telemedicine, for both patients and healthcare providers, which is of growing importance during the global COVID-19 pandemic. By being able to operate independently and remotely, the company states, patients can limit their hospital visits and reduce their healthcare costs.

“Near patient testing presents a major opportunity in today’s world to obtain an improved treatment outcome for patients. More and better data is an essential element in our drive to advance healthcare,” Wim Van Criekinge, co-founder of Novalis, said in the release.

“We were impressed by the Enzyre team and Enzypad technology, which has many application areas beyond coagulation testing. Our investment in Enzyre perfectly matches our strategy of investing in innovative breakthrough technology in life sciences,” Criekinge added.

Enzypad is the result of a collaboration with Takeda, which began in December of last year.

Enzyre, a spin-out from Radboud University Medical Center in the Netherlands, chose to initially develop this technology for hemophilia, for its well-defined patient population and frequent need for blood coagulation analysis.

“We firmly believe there is a huge demand for technology that empowers patients and allows healthcare workers to provide the best therapy without delay and increased cost. The Enzypad is able to meet this demand,” Pollet said.