Kalium Health, a Cambridge University spin-out developing a blood potassium rapid self-test, has launched its Series A offering to investors. The company is now raising £6 million ($7.3 million) to complete clinical validation activities and enter the US market.

Ranndy Kellogg, president and CEO of Omron Healthcare, also joins the board of Kalium Health in what is a significant moment for the company. Kellogg has generated huge value in remote patient monitoring for chronic diseases through the growth of Omron and AliveCor, where he also sits on the board. He will draw on his experience of building and scaling medical product companies to support Kalium’s commercial strategy focused on rapid market entry in long-term disease management. 

The investment, set to close in Spring 2024, will fund activities necessary for international regulatory approvals and initial market launch in the United States including scaling up product manufacturing and establishing partnerships with healthcare providers. 

Kalium Health spun out of the University of Cambridge in 2020 and has raised several million in funding since then to further develop and test its blood sensing technology targeting unmet clinical needs in cardiorenal monitoring. The company has generated compelling laboratory data, is preparing for patient evaluation and is currently in talks with pharma and biotech companies about partnering on technology development and clinical trials.  

Kalium is developing an integrated hardware/software platform that provides a rapid, quantitative readout from a single drop of blood. The company’s initial focus is on the accurate monitoring of blood potassium levels to improve the management of chronic kidney disease, which affects 800 million people worldwide, but the technology has wider applications and could help improve outcomes for a range of diseases. Kalium’s technology has already attracted the attention of US investors who recognise the huge opportunity to create value in chronic kidney disease management, which currently accounts for over 24% of US Medicare spend.

The company has also announced the formation of its inaugural advisory board, bringing together clinical and industry experts to guide it through product development and commercialisation. Yale nephrologist Dr Fredric Finkelstein, Imperial College London nephrologist Dr Andrew Frankel and former i-STAT Corporation CEO Bill Moffitt are the first three to join as advisors and will support CEO Tom Collings and the management team during the next phase of company growth.

Tom Collings, CEO at Kalium Health, said: “Having made tremendous recent progress in developing, testing, and patenting our blood sensing technology, we are now planning our next steps towards commercialisation and selecting the right investment partners is key to our future success. This £6 million round will enable us to deliver on our plan for regulatory approval and commercial launch within two years.

While our outlook is global, our decision to prioritise US market entry is based on regulatory considerations and near-term commercial opportunities. Ranndy’s insight and experience will be immensely valuable as our strategy evolves in line with healthcare delivery trends and I am thrilled that he has chosen to work with us on our important mission.”

Ranndy Kellogg, non-executive director at Kalium Health, said: “I’m really excited to be joining the board of Kalium Health on this exciting mission. I truly believe that physicians and cardiorenal patients will benefit from access to timely, accurate data. I have spent my career driving innovation in remote patient monitoring, and I am extremely impressed by Kalium’s technology and the great potential it has. Particularly here in the US, as kidney care providers are incentivised to adopt new approaches, this is the right technology at the right time. I look forward to working with CEO Tom Collings and the whole team to make the vision a reality.”