Video Transcription
Andrew Cameron 00:02
Andrew, hello, everyone. My name is Andrew Cameron, and I'm the CEO of FeelTect. Let me start by asking, how many indications do you know where the first line, gold standard treatment is applied, totally blind, where the dosage is just a guess, and nobody knows when to reapply the treatment? Well, let me introduce you to venous leg ulcers. These painful, chronic wounds account for 70% of all lower leg ulcers. They stem from a breakdown of the valves and the veins of the leg, which results in fluid buildup and tissue breakdown. They predominantly affect vulnerable patients aged 65 years and older.
Andrew Cameron 00:44
The effect on these patients' lives is profound. Issues such as pain, odor, stress, and sleep deprivation can all lead to social isolation, anxiety, and depression. Nurses describe this impact as the wound defining the patient, and the effect of these wounds goes beyond the patients. There are approximately 11.5 million cases of venous leg ulcers that occur each year, and 30% of these don't heal within a year. To give you an idea of the resource requirements, the average cost of treating a single venous leg ulcer in Germany is 8,660 euros, and the annual cost to the UK NHS is 3.2 billion pounds. This is despite the availability of a proven treatment, compression therapy. Compression, applying pressure using bandages and other products to the leg, helps to overcome the underlying venous insufficiency, restores blood flow, and ultimately heals the wound. In fact, studies have shown that if you increase the pressure during compression therapy, you see a linear increase in healing rates. Unfortunately, in clinical practice, it's not as easy as that. Thank you. Currently, there's a 90% failure to achieve targeted pressure in clinical practice. If you apply it too loosely, it's ineffective, and if you apply it too tightly, it's dangerous. And part of the reason for this is that only about 2% of patients are actually seen by trained tissue viability nurses. Furthermore, even if you were to apply the perfect bandage, you can lose up to 50% of pressure within the first three days because of a reduction in swelling, and non-compliance rates are up to 80% in community settings. Furthermore, the COVID pandemic and the subsequent global shortage in nursing personnel has meant a significant decrease in the number of appointments attended by these patients, with non-treatment of these wounds resulting in a 20-fold increase in the risk of hospitalization due to more serious conditions such as sepsis. According to clinical guidelines, the average healing time for venous leg ulcers should be 12 weeks. However, 56% of patients don't achieve this mark, with the average real-world healing time being 17 weeks. Again, 30% of patients don't heal within a year. There is a critical need for improving healing rates and reducing workload in the treatment of venous leg ulcers for reduced costs and improved patient outcomes. To address this need, FeelTect has developed TiterRite, the first connected health technology for measuring and monitoring sub-bandage pressure during compression therapy. The wearable, patent-protected point-of-care device includes a thin, flexible sensing arm with multiple pressure-sensing regions that goes beneath any existing compression product. Outside the bandage is a detachable electronics clip, which transmits signals wirelessly to a mobile app that displays the pressure in real-time, guiding the user to consistently apply gold standard compression therapy, thereby reducing healing times. Although the point-of-care technology is superior to any existing competitors, such as inaccurate tension indicators or impractical handheld devices, the truly disruptive nature of TiterRite relates to the pioneering digital platform providing unparalleled capabilities for remote monitoring, supported self-management, and data-driven optimization of care. This technology will redefine clinical guidelines using evidence-based data analytics. Not only will we show you how much pressure to apply, but when to reapply that pressure on an individual patient basis. We've already taken the technology into its first clinical validation with venous leg ulcer patients in the UK, showing dramatically accelerated healing rates. Here you can see patients that have had wounds for over 12 months having up to 38.5% wound area reduction in just three weeks. Furthermore, all of the patients in this study, aged between 67 and 77 years old, were able to use the technology to remotely transmit data from the comfort of their own home, allowing for supported self-management and targeted intervention of care. The clinical and health economic benefits of TiterRite led to a six-fold improvement in the ability of nurses to apply targeted pressure in line with internationally recognized standards. According to literature, this will have a 30% reduction in healing time, a 34% reduction in intervention frequency, and a 53% cost reduction relating to 4,600 euro savings per patient. The first-generation technology is on the cusp of commercialization, with first-in-human studies both in Europe and the USA, as well as regulatory milestones, including FDA registration as a Class I, 510(k) exempt product and CE mark as a Class I medical device. Furthermore, we've also secured multiple funding rounds, with our latest round of 1.8 million euros, enabling us to do pilot clinical validation and achieve market entry with beachhead customers in Europe and the USA. We're currently raising a 3.5 million euro Series A, which will allow us to do pivotal clinical validation and have dedicated reimbursement for scalability across Europe and US markets. The market for TiterRite is large and growing—2.7 billion euros just within venous leg ulcers in the USA and Europe. This is being driven by growth in associated factors such as age and obesity, with a CAGR of 6.4%. This doesn't account for other indications that also use compression therapy, such as lymphedema, or other valuable markets such as Asia. Our initial target markets will be the USA, Germany, UK, and Switzerland, which are being selected for their size and the available options for innovation adoption pathways. Our B2B model will sell a combination of hardware and software products under existing and newly generated reimbursement codes to our target customers, who represent large, multi-site integrated care organizations, a number of whom we already have clinical collaborations with. These organizations represent opportunities for rapid scalability through value-based outcome reimbursement models. Our target users include high-need, high-adoption venous leg ulcer patients, and we're already establishing strategic partnerships with multiple multinational wound care companies for distribution and exit opportunities. The commercial scale-up strategy for TiterRite will initially utilize a direct sales approach for market entry in 2025. As we begin to generate traction and shift the technology more towards the clinical decision support system, we'll then utilize distribution partnerships to accelerate sales and reach new markets. By 2028, we anticipate revenues of over 15 million euros, representing a 1% capture of the serviceable addressable market, or 21,500 venous leg ulcer patients treated per year. Having already established significant milestones, including convincing clinical data and early commercial traction, the 3.5 million euro Series A will allow us to continue building on those value inflection milestones with pivotal clinical studies, profitability, dedicated reimbursements in multiple international markets, having service-related revenue streams, redefining clinical guidelines, and ultimately generating revenue that will position the company for exit opportunities in excess of 100 million euros. The team behind FeelTect has all the technical, clinical, and commercial expertise to immediately begin executing our goals. Furthermore, we have close and long-lasting relationships with all of our external vendors, as well as an advisory panel of internationally recognized and respected key opinion leaders in both the clinical and marketing sectors of wound care. At FeelTect, we have an ambition to realize the full potential of compression therapy through safety, efficacy, and empowerment, and we're very interested to talk to anyone willing to help support our 3.5 million Series A to make that ambition a reality. Thank you. Applause.
