Micro-robot developer Bionaut raises $43.2M for brain disorder treatment
Bionaut Labs, which uses tiny robots to revolutionize the treatment of central nervous system diseases and disorders, raised $43.2 million in Series B funding, Brian Heater reports in TechCrunch. OurCrowd participated in the raise.
The company’s magnetically propelled micro-robots, called Bionauts, deliver therapeutics directly to the midbrain, a more direct application than the standard systemic delivery of drugs by mouth or intravenously. They can also perform surgical procedures that might be too risky for conventional methods.
Think Fantastic Voyage, the 1966 movie starring Raquel Welch, in which a submarine crew is miniaturized and injected into the bloodstream of a nearly assassinated scientist to repair a clot in his brain.
“We are extremely excited about the transformative potential Bionaut presents in treating debilitating neurological disorders,” says Vinod Khosla, Founder of Khosla Ventures, which served as lead investor. “Anatomically precise treatment will make traditionally used methods seem archaic, and Bionaut is at the forefront of this movement.”
Los Angeles-based Bionaut sees precision technology as the future of health care. The company was founded in 2017 with plans to commercialize existing research around tiny, remote-controlled drug-delivery robots.
The platform targets several debilitating conditions, including Parkinson’s disease, a congenital brain malformation known as Dandy-Walker Syndrome, Huntington's disease and certain types of malignant brain tumors.
Many diseases of the brain and central nervous system are difficult to treat because it is hard to deliver drugs beyond the blood-brain barrier and to reach deep locations in the midbrain with precision. The Bionaut platform is designed to overcome these obstacles to improve drug efficacy and avoid the side effects and toxicity from systemically delivered drugs, which bombard the entire body.
By eliminating the need to drag a tether or actuating arm, the Bionaut capsule is designed to overcome the limitations of neurosurgery and the risk of damaging tissue away from the target point. The micro-robots are injected in the cerebrospinal fluid from the spine or behind the skull, and then guided magnetically to precise locations within the brain or central nervous system that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to reach.
The robots follow a predetermined 3D trajectory inside the patient, and are designed to deliver all classes of therapeutics. The path through the body is monitored via live imaging. They can also collect tissue samples and take measurements inside the brain.
The technology can be customized to specific diseases and patients.
The new funding will be used to advance research and development of the company’s technology and to reach two critical milestones: pre-clinical studies starting in 2023, followed by clinical trials with patients the year after.
“There has been a dearth of innovation around treatments for conditions that cause tremendous suffering, in large part because past failures have discouraged even the best of researchers,” says Bionaut’s CEO and Co-founder Michael Shpigelmacher. “Bionaut Labs remains committed to finding new ways to treat these devastating diseases, which are long overdue for a breakthrough.”
Shpigelmacher and Co-founder Aviad Maizels were previously involved with PrimeSense, the Israeli-based sensor technology firm that developed the facial recognition technology behind iPhone’s FaceID. Apple acquired PrimeSense in 2013.
The US FDA has granted Bionaut Labs a Humanitarian Use Device designation for a micro-robot designed to treat Dandy Walker, and an Orphan Drug Designation for its drug-device combination for the treatment of malignant gliomas – cancerous brain tumors that are often inoperable. Outside its Los Angeles base, the company has additional R&D sites in Israel and at the Max Planck Institute in Germany.
