MAGNET incubator tenant Freedom Meditech recently announced an equity investment commitment of $380,000 from JumpStart. The JumpStart investment is part of an undisclosed total amount of Series A financing that is anticipated to allow the company to complete current pre-clinical studies and create a second generation prototype for use in a pilot human clinical study.Freedom Meditech, Inc. is developing a proprietary, non-invasive ocular glucose measurement device for people with diabetes. The company’s device is based, in part, on patented technology developed at the University of Toledo.

Freedom Meditech is focused on developing a device similar in form factor to binoculars that would utilize the company’s proprietary technology to non-invasively measure glucose levels in the aqueous humor of the eye – an area which has demonstrated a high correlation to glucose levels in blood and throughout the body. The company’s patented algorithms and novel product design are intended to correct for the effects of various confounding factors that previously hindered the ability to obtain an accurate glucose measurement in the eye.

Based on data generated from preliminary studies, the company has been able to demonstrate that its first generation prototype is highly accurate at even low levels of glucose concentration – a capability that has historically posed a challenge to other technological approaches pursued by various companies in the field. The results of initial studies were featured in Diabetes Technology and Therapeutics magazine in 2006 and earned the company an invitation to present at the October 2007 Diabetes Technology Meeting in San Francisco, CA.

Freedom Meditech is a prime example of a medical device startup taking advantage of the concentration of bio-device resources in our region, maintaining business and research and development relationships with The University of Toledo, Battelle, MAGNET, researchers at the Cole Eye Institute at the Cleveland Clinic, BioEnterprise, LNE Group, BioOhio, along with several other medical device commercialization experts across the country.

MAGNET wishes Freedom Meditech continued success.