Renovia announced that it raised $42.3 million in financing, so it will be ending its financing efforts as of today. This is a company that creates devices for women suffering from pelvic floor issues. The devices are meant to provide therapeutic and diagnostic solutions for treating these conditions. The financing included $10 million in venture debt and $32.3 million in Series B equity. Renovia plans to put the money toward its efforts to develop clinical trials, other products and additional product launches.
Several entities were involved in the Series B funding, including Western Technology Investment, OSF Ventures, Cormorant Asset Management, Inova Strategic Investments and the Longwood Fund. Ascension Ventures and Perceptive Advisors led the financing.
Marc Beer is the co-founder, chairman and CEO of Renovia, and he is very pleased that the abovementioned healthcare investment companies are going to be partnering with Renovia to improve the diagnosis and treatment of pelvic floor disorders. He believes that their efforts are going to improve the lives of women diagnosed with these disorders. Renovia continues to have loyal supporters as well as their new financial supporters, and Mr. Beer hopes that his partnership with the health networks will be a perfect fit with the company’s vision in the healthcare industry.
Mr. Beer also stated that the partners are going to combine their digital health platforms with their form factors and their innovative and proprietary sensor technologies. This is going to provide customers with data that they desperately need to choose the correct treatment options for women with pelvic floor disorders. It will also lead to a greater understanding and awareness of pelvic floor disorders, and hopefully, the ultimate goal of lowering healthcare costs will be realized. The funding that the company received demonstrates that Renovia’s diagnostic product and innovative digital therapeutic pipelines have an inordinate amount of value for the treatment of pelvic floor disorders. Urinary incontinence is just one of the conditions listed under this category.
Urinary incontinence is a condition that women are suffering from all over the world, and it is highly disturbing to them. On a global scale, approximately 250 million women have been diagnosed with urinary incontinence. In 2016 when Renovia was founded, its vision was to develop a product pipeline that has the potential to provide therapeutic and diagnostic solutions for women diagnosed with this condition. Renovia currently has a device that was approved by the FDA, and it works by isolating and directing the optimal movement of the levator plate. This product and all of Renovia’s product pipeline take advantage of the most advanced apps and data management technology to provide affordable and accurate treatment of weak pelvic floor muscles. At the same time, this technology gathers data on how well these patients follow their doctors’ instructions and progress through the treatment of their pelvic floor issues.
Last year, Renovia also added new members to its team, and they include General Counsel Jim O’Connor, Vice President of Medical Affairs and Clinical Advocacy Jessica McKinney, P.T., M.S. and Chief Medical Officer Samantha Pulliam, M.D.
Renovia
Marc Beer was aware that the healthcare industry needed to develop better products for the diagnosis and treatment of pelvic floor disorders. His intent was to create products that would improve the quality of life for these women. The company that he co-founded developed technology that could “see” how the pelvic floor was moving while the pelvic floor muscles were being trained. Over time, the technology made it possible for medical personnel to monitor the progress of the condition. Renovia considers itself to be a “women’s health organization,” and it will continue to bring affordable solutions to the problems of pelvic floor disorders.
The Leadership
The leadership of Renovia includes Marc Beer as the co-founder, chairman and CEO, but it also has six other important officers. These include William Dull as the chief commercial officer, Samantha Pulliam, M.D. as the chief medical officer, Jose Bohorquez, Ph.D. as the chief scientific officer, Jim O’Connor as the general counsel & senior vice president, Jessica McKinney, P.T., M.S. as the vice president of medical affairs & clinical advocacy and Robin Sutherland as the vice president of human resources & clinical operations.
Leva
Renovia has accomplished its goal. It is called “Leva,” and it is a Pelvic Digital Health System that uses the current technology to help women strengthen their pelvic floor muscles. Patients can employ their Bluetooths and smartphones to use the system’s interactive visualization and real-time progress tracking for the purpose of building up the strength in their pelvic muscles. The system can also treat urinary incontinence and stress, but the best thing about the system is that it doesn’t cause any side effects like those caused by medication and surgery.
Evidence that Leva Is Effective
Researchers conducted a six-week study on Leva, and they discovered that Leva reduced the severity of incontinence symptoms in the 23 test subjects. The women began to experience an improved quality of life from the first week that they tried Leva. The performance of their pelvic floor muscles also improved.
In another study, 20 women noticed a significant improvement in their symptoms in three weeks. This is 87 percent of the population studied. By the time the respondents entered the sixth week, 17 women stated that they were no longer experiencing any leakage. This is 74 percent of the population of the study. By the time the study was over, all 23 of the subjects stated that their pelvic floor symptoms were markedly improved.
Three of the women in the study did report that they experienced unpleasant side effects, including migraine headaches, urinary tract infections and symptoms of a cold. Even so, 100 percent of the subjects reported that Leva improved quality of life as it relates to this particular medical condition.
How Leva Works
The first thing that a patient will do is insert the Leva into her vagina. This should be a comfortable fit. Then, she can log on to her Leva app and open “Practice Mode.” This allows the patient to practice using the product until she is comfortable with the device.
After the patient is comfortable using the Leva, she can begin by opening “Training Mode.” These sessions will last 2 1/2 minutes. The app will record their sessions in practice mode and training mode.
Each time the patient uses the Leva, the device will record a session score. After all five sessions have been completed, the device will calculate a final score. The scores are calculated depending upon how high the patient can lift her pelvis and how long she can maintain that position. The app will average the five session scores to calculate the final score.
When the patient is finished using the Leva, she only needs to gently pull the device down to remove it.
Precautions
The Leva should not cause any pain when it is being inserted or used to strengthen the pelvic muscles. The patient must always make sure to follow the directions. Leva should not cause an infection if they wash their hands before use and wash the device after use. The device cannot become stuck inside of the patient. Sometimes, women become tense when they insert or remove the Leva, and this can make it difficult to take the device out. They only need to relax, and the Leva can easily be removed.
