Irish medtech startup gets €2.5m grant boost

Courtesy Dearbhail McDonald – Irish Independent Jan 07, 2019

An Irish medtech startup that has developed a capsule that can detect bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract has received backing from the European Union Horizon 2020 grant programme.

Galway-based EnteraSense, is the lead partner in a project that has received a €2.5m boost from the EU’s research and innovation fund.

EnteraSense also secured €1m in seed funding from private investors, with the combined €3.5m being used to help commercialise Entera-Sense’s technology, build the team to nine members and further the field of diagnostics.

“We want to improve patient outcomes and drive cost down for the health system,” said Donal Devery, CEO of Entera-Sense.

“Each process and function within the deliverables associated with the grant will help us achieve this goal.”

EnteraSense, backed by the National Digital Research Centre (NDRC), holds a worldwide licence for the diagnostic technology, originally developed by Dr Christopher Thompson, director of developmental endoscopy at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and an instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School.

“EnteraSense’s diagnostic tool has the potential to dramatically improve the treatment of patients worldwide, while also driving down healthcare costs and speeding up diagnostic processes, thereby being a win on every front: patient experience, healthcare delivery, and cost,” said Ben Hurley, CEO, NDRC.