UK-based pharmaceutical company Phagenesis closed its €7m ($9.3m) of series B funding yesterday with Inventages, a life sciences firm backed by Switzerland-based food and nutrition corporation Nestlé, leading the round.
Founded in 2007 after it span off from research performed at the University of Manchester, Phagenesis raised £2m ($3.1m) in a September 2010 series A round of financing from unnamed investors. Phagenesis is developing a device that will help dysphagia sufferers to swallow, using controlled electrical pulses.
Gunnar Weikert, founder of Inventages, said: "Phagenesis is addressing a critical, unmet need in a very large market. Dysphagic patients are underserved by modern medicine and many face tube-feeding and a significant loss of quality of life for decades. Phagenesis is ideally placed to meet this challenge."
Ashok Dhanrajgir, senior partner at Inventages, added: "We are optimistic that Phagenesis will demonstrate further clinical evidence on efficacy and health economic benefits to society."