According to a report in Israeli financial newspaper Globes, Tel Aviv-based Syqe Medical has raised $50 million in a financing round led by Shavit Capital for continued development of its medicinal plants inhaler. Shavit Capital has posted the news report on its website.
The Syqe inhaler delivers metered doses using heat and a controlled flow of air through cartridges containing “structurally modified” plant material and is currently used for delivery of cannabis. In 2016, Teva announced that it would market Syqe’s cannabis inhaler in Israel, where the inhaler is available for hospital use.
The company intends to use the new funding for wider commercialization of the cannabis inhaler and for development of the inhaler for use with other plants, including opium and valerian, the article says. Syqe also said that it would explore development of the inhaler for delivery of conventional drugs
Globes quotes Syqe Founder and CEO Perry Davidson as citing a need for this type of smart inhaler, saying, “In the medical plant sector, there are now capsules, oils, and creams, but there is no option for inhaling precise dosages. On the other hand, in the pharma industry, dosages changing in real time with real adjustment of the treatment to the patient cannot be administered by inhalation. Furthermore, the response rate to treatment with pharmaceutical inhalers is less than 50%.”
Read the Globes article on Syqe’s fundraising round.
