According to Grand View Research, the global clinical trials market is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 5.7% between 2021 and 2028.
The drivers here include the globalisation of clinical trials, rapid technological development, and the growing demand for contract research organizations to conduct research projects.
Raised €5M
In this regard, Climedo, a Munich-based digital platform for decentralised clinical trials, announced that it has secured €5M funding in a Seed round.
The round was led by pan-European VC firm Nauta Capital with participation from Westtech Ventures and existing business angels such as Prof. Dr. Christian Wallwiener (WMC Healthcare).
The company will use the new capital to expand its operations within Europe and to further develop its software solutions.
Co-founder and CEO Sascha Ritz explains, “We have set ourselves the ambitious goal of becoming the market leader in Europe for patient-centric, electronic data capture by 2024. Nauta Capital is an investor that has recognized the potential in our decentralized platform and the integration of telemedicine into the world of clinical trials. We are pleased to have Nauta Capital by our side to help expand our partner network and fulfil our mission.”
Decentralised clinical trials
Founded by Dragan Mileski, Sascha Ritz, and Veronika Schweighart in 2017, Climedo is on a mission to offer patients the best possible medical treatment through intelligent software solutions.
The German healthtech company offers a digital platform for decentralised clinical trials. According to a survey conducted by Informa Connect in 2021, decentralised trials are faster than conventional trials, saving respondents around three months on average.
Together with Europe’s leading hospitals, including the Berlin Charité, Climedo developed a cloud-based platform. The primary objective of the software is to become even more patient-centric and to enable end-to-end communication between study coordinators, physicians, and patients.
The modular solution for Electronic Data Capture (EDC) enables pharmaceutical and medical device companies to efficiently validate their products and medical innovations in a decentralised and patient-centric way.
By digitally connecting all parties involved, such as sponsors, physicians, and patients, communication and data capture are simplified significantly. Climedo can be used on any device that has internet access – without the need for installing an app, claims the company.
eDiary solution
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Climedo has provided its eDiary solution for tracking (suspected) cases to nearly half of all German health authorities.
This allows for contactless monitoring on the side of authorities, without the need for daily telephone calls to ask about people’s symptoms.
It is thus possible to respond to potential adverse events immediately, resulting in time savings of up to 80%, says Climedo.
Investors
Nauta Capital is a Venture Capital firm investing in early-stage technology companies, with offices in London, Barcelona, and Berlin. For VC Nauta Capital, this is the fourth investment in the digital health sector.
With over half a billion assets under management and a team of 24 people, Nauta Capital is one of Europe’s largest B2B focused VCs.
“Clinical trials are extremely time-consuming and costly for companies,” says Guillem Sagué, Partner at Nauta Capital. “This needs to change. Digitalizing and decentralizing trials can save massive costs. It also gives small companies access to clinical trials. At the same time, the approval of drugs for rare diseases is often not worthwhile for cost reasons – this is something Climedo aims to change as well. Digitalization has the potential to make processes much more efficient, thereby contributing to democratisation of drug development.”
