LINKÖPING, Sweden--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Swedish-based digital health company AMRA has announced today a $9 million funding round co-led by US-based Pfizer Venture Investments and leading Nordic VC Novo Seeds. Industrifonden, another leading Nordic VC and current AMRA investor, also participated, making this their second AMRA investment.
AMRA aims to understand the relationship between fat, muscle and the development of disease, and to redefine obesity and metabolic risk using a personalised medicine approach. Founded in 2010, AMRA has since launched a cloud-based, computer-aided service, AMRA® Profiler, which translates data from a rapid, 6-minute whole body MRI scan into precise fat and muscle measurements. As the world’s first technology of its kind to receive CE mark for clinical use in Europe, AMRA® Profiler introduces a new global standard in body composition assessment.
“Pfizer Venture Investments invests in emerging companies developing technologies that can enhance Pfizer’s pipeline and shape the future of our industry. AMRA’s disruptive technology offers a personalized medicine approach to identify those at-risk of poor metabolic health outcomes. We are pleased to assist AMRA in making significant progress in this field,” says Bill Burkoth, Executive Director, Pfizer Venture Investments.
AMRA is moving away from body mass index (BMI) and towards the more precise, individualised Body Composition Profile (BCP). The BCP offers markedly improved patient stratification, saving time and money for companies by identifying individuals with equivalent body composition. The high precision of AMRA’s technology supports the early detection of treatment efficacy, making it ideal for clinical trials. As AMRA continues to establish normal values and risk associations, it has the potential to predict the risk of development of diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, NASH, sarcopenia, and more.
“One of the great health challenges globally is related to ageing and obesity, and there are over 2.1 billion individuals who are characterised as obese or overweight. AMRA’s approach provides technology to identify different classes of obesity and thereby potentially reveal high metabolic risk profiles. AMRA has the potential to play a vital role for research, clinical development and eventually patient management,” says Søren Møller, Managing Partner, Novo Seeds.
With this new investment, AMRA will establish itself internationally and expand its network amongst leading researchers and pharmaceutical companies, with the aim to support patient stratification in clinical trials, the understanding of treatment effects on body composition, and the detection of early signs of treatment efficacy. The company will also increase its involvement amongst global population cohorts, research institutions, and hospitals. With a strong and expanding internal knowledge base, AMRA is now one step closer to redefining obesity.
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About AMRA
AMRA is the first in the world to transform images from a 6-minute whole body MRI scan into precise fat and muscle measurements. By offering more accurate knowledge about our bodies, AMRA supports the advancement of metabolic research and assists medical leaders in predicting and preventing disease. Areas of focus include: obesity, NAFLD / NASH, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, oncology, sarcopenia, cachexia, muscle disorders, rare diseases, and more.
Headquartered in Sweden, AMRA was founded in 2010 as a spin-out of the Center for Medical Image Science and Visualization (CMIV), the Department of Biomedical Engineering (IMT), and the Department of Medicine and Health (IMH) at Linköping University. AMRA will now expand to the USA via a new subsidiary.
For further information, please visit: www.amra.se
About Pfizer Venture Investments
Pfizer Venture Investments (PVI), the venture capital arm of Pfizer Inc., was founded in 2004 and invests for return in areas of current or future strategic interest to Pfizer. As part of the Worldwide Business Development division, PVI seeks to remain at the forefront of life science advances, looking to identify and invest in emerging companies that are developing compounds and technologies that have the potential to enhance Pfizer’s pipeline and shape the future of our industry.
For more information, please visit www.pfizerventureinvestments.com
About Novo A/S
Novo A/S is a private limited liability company wholly owned by the Novo Nordisk Foundation. The company is the holding company in the Novo Group and responsible for managing the Foundation’s assets. Besides being the major shareholder in the Novo Group companies, Novo A/S provides seed and venture capital to development-stage companies, takes significant ownership positions in well-established companies within the life sciences and manages a broad portfolio of financial assets.
Read more at www.novo.dk
About Industrifonden
Industrifonden is one of the Nordic region’s most active investors in the Life Science and Technology areas. Within Life Science, Industrifonden focuses on pharmaceuticals, medical devices and digital health.
For more information, please visit Industrifonden.com
