Rainbow Medical’s GluSense picks up $2M for injectable glucose sensor

GluSense, which is developing a long-term glucose-monitoring implant, has received approximately $1.9 million from the newly launched JDRF T1D Fund, according to a spokesman. The company will use the funds to advance its continuous glucose monitoring toward human trials.

“The GluSense Glyde CGM is a highly innovative and promising technology,” said Jonathan Behr, managing director of the T1D Fund, in a statement. “When paired with future advanced artificial pancreas systems or insulin injections, it will reduce the burden of T1D and help those living with the disease maintain blood glucose levels in a safe range.”

JDRF unveiled the $42 million T1D Fund last month. It intends to raise $80 million over the next two years to bankroll the development of promising early-stage treatments for Type 1 diabetes.

The Glyde CGM comprises a glucose-monitoring implant and an external, wearable device. A physician injects the implant just under the skin of a patient under local anesthesia. It is expected to last in the body for one year, continuously measuring glucose levels and communicating data wirelessly to the wearable device, according to the statement.

The implant contains many biosensor protein molecules, which contain two fluorophore groups and a glucose-binding region, according to the company. The percentage of glucose-binding proteins that are bound to glucose at any given moment reflects the concentration of glucose in the environment surrounding the sensor. When this ratio fluctuates, it changes the fluorescence emitted by the implant, which can be read and translated into glucose values by the wearable.

The device is currently in animal studies, the GluSense spokesman said. The investment will support the development of the system and expand on preclincal studies ahead of a first-in-human study, he said.

Like other glucose sensors, the GluSense implant degrades over time. But the company has developed it to replenish itself. The implant contains living cells that produce the glucose-binding protein, so the implant is left with a “relatively constant level of sensing material,” the spokesman said.

Other glucose sensors must be replaced more frequently. For example, the sensor in Medtronic’s MiniMed 670G hybrid closed loop system must be replaced after seven days.