Mahana Therapeutics, a developer of FDA-cleared app-based, digital prescription digital therapeutics treatments for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), completed a $61 million Series B financing.
JAZZ Venture Partners and Gurnet Point Capital led the financing round with significant participation from new and existing investors Main Street Advisors, KKCG, and Lux Capital.
As part of the funding – Sophie Kornowski of Gurnet Point and Meghan Reynolds of JAZZ have joined the Mahana Therapeutics Board of Directors.
“GPC is excited to join this world-class group of investors with a proven track record supporting life sciences and technology companies, as well as the impressive team assembled at Mahana, to support the development of groundbreaking digital therapeutics to transform the treatment paradigm for many health conditions,” said Sophie Kornowski, senior partner at Gurnet Point Capital.
The company plans to use the latest funds to launch its FDA-cleared prescription digital therapeutic Mahana for IBS app and accelerate the development of several digital therapeutics for chronic health conditions. The funds will also be used to develop and commercialize a pipeline of digital therapeutics, the company said in a statement.
Mahana for IBS is a prescription-only digital therapeutic device indicated as a three-month treatment providing cognitive-behavioral therapy to adults with IBS through a mobile app.
“We are grateful for the support of leading digital health, technology, and life science investors who share our vision to empower patients with affordable, accessible, and effective digital tools to help patients manage their chronic conditions,” said Steven Basta, chief executive officer at Mahana Therapeutics.
In a clinical study of more than 500 IBS patients, the company’s flagship product – Mahana IBS, demonstrated that more than 60% of the patients reported clinically significant reductions in the severity of their symptoms, including decreased bloating and abdominal pain and improved bowel function.
The reported reductions were about twice as high as those brought about by traditional methods for managing IBS symptoms, and the positive effects of Mahana IBS were shown to last for at least a year after the program was complete, according to the company.
Including the latest funding round, Mahana Therapeutics has raised a total of $81 million to date.
mHealth Apps raised a record $1.6 billion in venture funding in 1H 2021, a 100% increase year-over-year, according to the recently released Mercom’s 1H 2021 Digital Health Funding and M&A Report. Sweetch, a startup that uses an artificial intelligence-powered app to help patients manage chronic conditions, announced the completion of a $20 million Series A round of funding.
