PaMeLa Inc. (Location: Suita, Osaka; Representative Director: Arata Hasegawa), a company founded with the aim of applying in society the research results of Aya Nakae, Specially Appointed Professor, Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, announced that it had completed the allocation of new shares to third parties (hereinafter, “the fundraising”) totaling 520 million yen in its Series C round. In addition to our existing investors MedVenture Partners, Inc. (Head office: Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Hajime Oshita), OUVC No. 1 Investment Limited Partnership operated by Osaka University Venture Capital Co., Ltd. (Head office: Suita, Osaka; CEO: Hayami Shimizu), and Teikoku Seiyaku Co., Ltd. (Head office: Higashikagawa, Kagawa; President and CEO: Misako Fujioka), new investors UMI II Investment Limited Partnership operated by Universal Materials Incubator Co., Ltd. (Head office: Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Shosuke Kiba), Kyogin Shining Future Support Fund No. 2 Investment Limited Partnership operated by Kyogin Lease & Capital Co., Ltd. (Head office: Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto; Representative Director: Shin’ichi Takenaka) and others, CSV Venture Fund 2 Limited Liability Partnership operated by NEC Capital Solutions Limited (Head office: Konan, Minato-ku, Tokyo; President: Tomoo Imazeki) and others, Kiyo Capital Management Co., Ltd. (Head office: Wakayama, Wakayama; President and Representative Director: Norio Maruoka), and The Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company, Limited (Head office: Yurakucho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director and President: Seiji Inagaki), will become our shareholders.
<Objectives of fundraising>
With the funds raised, we will conduct confirmatory clinical trials with the aim of obtaining regulatory approval and insurance coverage, as well as obtaining international patent rights, in order to accelerate our business.
<About PMS-2 (tentatively named), a pain assessment support system>
This device provides an objective index of pain in post-operative pain management, thereby assisting doctors and nurses in pain management. Brain waves measured with a small electroencephalograph at the patient’s bedside in a hospital room are analyzed with AI to quantify pain, to provide an objective index for pain management, which previously relied on the patient’s chief complaints and the doctor’s experience. In the future, we plan to expand the scope of application to areas other than post-operative use in hospitals.
<Exploratory clinical trial results with PMS-2 (tentatively named), a pain assessment support system>
An exploratory investigator-initiated clinical trial at University of Fukui Hospital on 30 patients after surgery under general anesthesia was successfully completed. It was confirmed that the estimated Pain Score (PS) calculated from electroencephalograms (EEGs) was significantly lower after the administration of analgesics compared to the score before administration.
The results demonstrated that EEG-based PS reflects pain.
This exploratory clinical trial was conducted with the support of the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED) for the Translational Research Strategic Promotion Program: Seeds C Research and Development Title “Development of a method to objectively monitor the efficacy of analgesics for postoperative pain,” in cooperation with the translational research support center of Osaka University. The pain assessment support system PMS-2 (tentatively named) used in this exploratory clinical trial was provided by PaMeLa Inc., a co-investigator of the above research and development project.
