Brandon invests $6m in Australia medtech company
Brandon Capital has committed A$7.7 million ($6 million) to Australian medical technology developer Global Kinetics.
The new capital will support the commercialization of Global Kinetics’ Parkinson’s KinetiGraph product, a device resembling a smart watch that tracks the symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease, such as tremors, impulsive behavior and daytime somnolence. KinetiGraph has received approval from the US Food & Drug Administration, and is currently used by 30 clinics in the US. The company plans to introduce the device to more US clinics and also to bring it to the UK and other countries.
Global Kinetics also received commitments from the Michael J. Fox Foundation and additional Parkinson’s-focused foundations, according to a statement. The company has not disclosed the total size of the funding round, but Australian media reports have put it around A$45 million.
The current iteration of KinetiGraph is intended to be worn for only seven days by the patient, then returned to the clinic. Global Kinetics is working on an updated model that can be charged at home and worn continuously, giving doctors a continual feed of data to help develop treatment plans.
Brandon is an existing investor in Global Kinetics, having participated in the company’s A$15 million funding round in 2015. That investment was made from its Medical Research Commercialisation Fund 2 (MRCF 2) vehicle, which closed in 2011 at A$40 million. The successor vehicle, MCRF 3, closed last year at A$200 million.
The latest Global Kinetics investment came from the Biomedical Translation Fund (BTF), a A$500 million fund established by the Australian government in 2016 to nurture biomedical discoveries and create internationally competitive healthcare products. OneVentures and BioScience Managers were selected, along with Brandon, as managers of BTF.
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