Element Science Raises $145.6 Million Series C Financing

Element Science, a health technology company pioneering a next-generation digital wearable platform focused on high-risk cardiovascular patients transitioning from the hospital-to-home, has raised $145.6 million in Series C financing. The funding round, led by Deerfield Healthcare and Qiming Venture Partners USA, includes Cormorant Asset Management and Invus Opportunities, as well as participation from existing investors Third Rock Ventures and Google Ventures. The new funds will enable completion of clinical studies through commercial launch of the company’s initial product, the Jewel Patch Wearable Cardioverter Defibrillator (P-WCD), an unobtrusive, low-profile personal defibrillator designed to detect and treat life-threatening arrhythmias in patients with an elevated temporary risk of Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD), a condition for which more than 500,000 patients in the United States are at risk every year.

Element Science has been led since its inception by Uday N. Kumar, M.D., a cardiac electrophysiologist, who serves as faculty at Stanford University’s Byers Center for Biodesign and was a former Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Third Rock Ventures as well as the Founder of iRhythm Technologies, a digital healthcare company pioneering the use of wearables in cardiac rhythm monitoring.

“Given Dr. Kumar’s background, the Jewel P-WCD was designed with patients and physicians foremost in mind and truly represents a significant advancement in therapeutic digital wearables,” said Neil Exter, board member, Element Science and Partner, Third Rock Ventures, an initial investor in the company. “We are excited to have this new group of prominent investors join the Company to help ensure this life-saving therapy reaches patients.”

The Jewel P-WCD is the first product to be built on Element’s novel Jewel platform, which unites patient-centric human factor engineering and sophisticated machine learning algorithm development principles upon a foundation of rigorous electromechanical medical device development standards.

“Our next-generation digital wearable is a breakthrough in personalized digital healthcare based on years of extensive research and testing. The Jewel platform supports both therapeutic and diagnostic capabilities and is designed for ease of wearability to facilitate high compliance and efficacy,” said Dr. Kumar, founder, president and CEO. “Given the broad potential for the Jewel platform to save and improve the lives of patients worldwide, we welcome the strong support of this impressive consortium of investors.”

The new funds will also be used to develop a family of digital wearables based on the modular Jewel platform, including solutions that address related unmet needs such as the treatment of SCD in inpatient settings as well as the diagnosis of heart failure exacerbations in recently discharged patients.

“We believe that Element Science’s ability to apply principles of data science and patient-centered design holds great potential in disrupting the way these cardiovascular patients are monitored, diagnosed, and treated,” said Andrew ElBardissi, M.D., partner, Deerfield Management. “We are delighted to support the company as it works to bring life-saving therapies to patients, while changing the paradigm of treatment in multi-billion dollar global markets.”

The Jewel platform has the potential to be easily adapted to a variety of clinical settings and care delivery models. “We see massive opportunities to significantly impact patient health with the proprietary Jewel platform in the U.S. and Europe, as well as large, underserved markets such as China,” said Christopher Shen, M.D., managing partner, Qiming Venture Partners USA. “We are excited to partner with Element Science in leading the effort to make this important life-saving technology available for patients globally.”

The team at Element Science has deep expertise in wearable patches, user-centered design and advanced algorithms, and a Scientific Advisory Board with leaders including Dr. Robert Harrington, chair of Stanford University’s Department of Medicine; Dr. Jeremy Ruskin, founder and Director Emeritus, Massachusetts General Hospital Cardiac Arrhythmia Service; and Dr. Harlan Krumholz, director, Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation, Yale-New Haven Hospital.

“Given the seriousness of the conditions Element Science is addressing, this important level of funding is needed to support the efforts needed to scale Element Science’s manufacturing, quality and clinical infrastructure in the appropriate manner necessary for the next stage of the company’s development,” said William (“Hank”) Kucheman, former CEO of Boston Scientific Corporation and long-standing member of Element Science’s Board of Directors. “Everyone at the company is focused on successfully completing our clinical studies and beginning commercialization, and is looking forward to broadly providing these needed solutions to patients to help save lives.”