Personalized medicine startup Chrono Therapeutics reeled in a $47.6 million Series B round, which it will use to propel the clinical development of its wearable smoking cessation device and to look into other applications for its personalized drug therapy platform.
Chrono’s solution comprises a nicotine-delivering wearable that communicates with a mobile app via Bluetooth. The device is an adhesive-lined cartridge intended for 24 hours of continuous wear. It times nicotine delivery ahead of when cravings are predicted to be strongest, according to the company. While it is designed to address cravings before they hit, the device also has a “Crave” button that a patient may press, triggering the smartphone app to launch craving-management coaching. Patients may also record feelings and events that accompany the craving, such as stress. The platform is currently in Phase II trials.
Over the 10-week program, the mobile app delivers weekly interactive lessons to help patients develop behavioral and cognitive strategies for managing their nicotine cravings. The app presents cravings data and associated feelings in a graph over time, allowing patients to identify trends and better manage their cravings.
The company will collect detailed data on nicotine delivery and how patients use the wearable and the app. This will help Chrono develop more intelligent nicotine delivery and coaching algorithms to improve the program, the company said in a statement. In addition to smoking cessation, the timed delivery platform may benefit patients with other conditions, such as opioid addiction and Parkinson’s disease, and may also help manage pain, Chrono said in the statement.
"Chrono's technology is the first of its kind and holds the potential to significantly improve the way we provide an end-to-end patient-centered solution for those people struggling with addiction and chronic neurological diseases," said Wende Hutton of Canaan Partners, which participated in the round, in the statement.
Existing investors 5AM Ventures, Mayo Clinic, GE Ventures and Fountain Healthcare Partners also participated in the round. Chrono previously raised $32 million in its Series A.