US-based insulin inhaler developer Dance Biopharm has secured approximately $20.5m in a funding round backed by Molex Ventures, a medical electronics subsidiary of manufacturing, chemicals and energy conglomerate Koch Industries.
Molex was joined by a syndicate of institutional and individual investors, and the round follows $24.5m from investors including Molex in September 2018.
Dance Biopharm is developing a handheld device called Dance 501, which is designed to be a needle-free alternative to delivering insulin into a diabetic patient’s lungs, instead utilising a soft mist formulation.
The capital will be used to support manufacturing of the Dance 51 system, as Dance Biopharm prepares for a planned phase 3 clinical trial in patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes in 2020. It will also support research for Dance 601, a device being developed to enhance the secretion of insulin.
The company had raised $19m of a planned $36.7m as of January 2018, but it is unclear whether that formed part of the latest round. It had previously received $9.5m in convertible note financing in 2015, $625,000 in funding in August 2016 and $3.4m in June 2017 according to press releases and securities filings.