gate-Startup VisionHealth closes financing of 1 million Euro for certified health app Kata® in the field of inhalation therapy

09.04.2020 by

Brand new medical device and therapy companion Kata® on the verge of market launch
Digital inhalation therapy support for patients with lung diseases improves therapy outcome
Reimbursement by German health insurance companies in preparation, high savings potential for health sector by avoiding intensive therapy

VisionHealth GmbH, a pioneer for digital therapy support in inhalation therapy, announces the successful closing of a financing of 1 million Euro for market launch and future growth. Led by investor Dr. Georg Matheis, this round of financing attracted not only existing investors but also other entrepreneurs and investors with many years of industry expertise in respiratory therapies.

VisionHealth is developing the digital health app Kata®, a certified medical device to improve inhalation treatment for respiratory diseases. The Company will use the funds to advance the approval process within the framework of the German Digital Health Care Act (DVG) in Germany, and thus enable reimbursement by health insurance companies. Furthermore, this funding will be used to prepare market entry in Germany, expand the functionality and finance the clinical validation of the Kata® app.

Kata® could support the therapy of approximately 250 million patients with chronic respiratory diseases worldwide; in Germany alone it is possible to let about 8.9 million patients with lung disease benefit from a higher quality of treatment through Kata®. The current plight of patients with respiratory diseases due to the COVID-19 pandemic illustrates the importance of supporting the treatment of vulnerable patients with innovative technologies. Digital monitoring of inhalation can improve the quality of treatment, prevent exacerbations and thus reduce the need for intensive care therapy. This should lead to high cost savings in the follow-up care of this serious disease.

Dr. Georg Matheis, physician, entrepreneur and seed investor, explains: “The therapeutic potential of Kata® is very high for a large number of patients with asthma or COPD. The Kata® technology is based on many years of experience and deep knowledge of the frequent application errors of patients. This is where the Kata® app can offer real added value for patients, relatives and treating physicians. Digital therapy support will become more and more important in the healthcare sector in the future and will soon be part of everyday practice and clinical routine. VisionHealth has recognized this need and has put together an outstanding team that can contribute its in-depth experience in respiratory diseases, existing therapeutic approaches and industry”.

Dr. Sabine Haeussermann, CEO and founder of VisionHealth, comments: “We are very pleased to have generated so much interest and support for our business model and also proud to successfully close the financing round these days. We are confident that with Kata® we are bringing a medical device to the market that will sustainably improve the daily life of patients and inhalation therapy. We now have the funds to integrate additional inhalers into our system and to make the functions of the Kata® app available to an even wider group of patients.”

About VisionHealth

VisionHealth GmbH is a specialist for digital therapy support for respiratory diseases. In cooperation with research institutions and selected industrial partners, experts from medicine and IT develop innovative digital health solutions that enable sustainable improvements in therapy standards for patients with lung and respiratory diseases in a networked world. The private company, based in Garching near Munich, was founded in 2017 by specialists in inhalation therapy and currently has 8 employees. The investors are business angels or private investors with many years of industry expertise, particularly in respiratory therapy.

www.visionhealth.gmbh

About Kata®

The aim of the Kata® app is to improve the inhalation treatment of various lung diseases through digital therapy support. Experience shows that patients fail to perform their necessary and regular inhalation treatments correctly due to a lack of diligence or knowledge. As a result, the prescribed medication is not adequately delivered to the respiratory tract. A multitude of different inhaler models increases the training effort for physicians and patients and makes therapy monitoring more difficult. Around 250 million people worldwide suffer from chronic respiratory diseases for which Kata® could be used and in some cases be prescribed. The application is a combination of artificial intelligence, machine learning, computer animation and augmented reality and was one of the first digital applications to receive medical device certification.

www.kata-inhalation.com

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 867249.