Fractyl Laboratories said today that it raised $44 million in a Series D round, led by an undisclosed investor and first-time investors GV, True Ventures and the IDO Fund.
Returning investors included Deerfield Management Company, Bessemer Venture Partners and others. The company said it plans to use the round’s proceeds to fund the continued development of its Revita duodenal mucosal resurfacing procedure for people with Type II diabetes.
“Metabolic diseases, including Type II diabetes and NAFLD/NASH are an epidemic of staggering proportions, impacting hundreds of millions of people around the globe,” Dr. Krishna Yeshwant, general partner at GV, said in prepared remarks. “Fractyl offers the potential to fundamentally redefine the treatment paradigm for Type II diabetes and reverses the disease process rather than manage its symptoms.”
“More than 50 new drugs have been approved to manage Type II diabetes, yet too many patients still remain unable to control their disease and are at risk for serious complications from their disease” Fractyl’s co-founder & CEO Dr. Harith Rajagopalan added. “At Fractyl we have developed a minimally invasive, catheter-based procedural therapy that we believe can help reverse Type II diabetes and NASH.”
Changes to the lining of the duodenum can cause insulin resistance and metabolic diseases, including Type II diabetes, according to Fractyl.
The company’s minimally-invasive technology is designed to rejuvenate the surface of the duodenum using an endoscopic catheter-based procedure. The Revita DMR therapy, which has CE Mark clearance, can be performed in less than one hour and enables patients to resume normal activities the next day, Fractyl touted.
“Our unwavering aim is to develop technology to address the root cause of metabolic diseases in the intestine and enable the reversal of these diseases,” Rajagopalan said. “Our initial focus is to provide a compelling new treatment option for patients with poorly controlled Type II diabetes who are at risk of complications.”
