BME start-up receives $3 million to develop ultrasound-based anti-inflammatory therapy
April 2, 2024 — University of Minnesota start-up SecondWave Systems, a company co-founded by Department of Biomedical Engineering Professor Hubert Lim, has secured $3 million in funding to support the development of a wearable ultrasound stimulation platform for treating rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory conditions.
Funding is provided by the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), in partnership with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). This latest funding brings the company’s total non-dilutive funding from U.S. government agencies to $15.3 million.
Seed investments from DARPA supported the initial development of the ultrasound stimulation platform, resulting in a wearable medical device that was recently investigated in a first-in-human clinical study in rheumatoid arthritis patients with positive efficacy outcomes.
This new funding will further advance the technology for implementation in a pivotal clinical trial for at-home treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.