Canary Medical Gains Venture Support for Sensor Technology

Canary Medical received a $20 million venture loan facility. The company has developed the Canary Health Implantable Reporting Processor (CHIRP), which uses sensor and novel communication technology to provide physicians and patients with real-time monitoring and feedback following total knee replacement.

The CHIRP sensor is modular, and can be cost-effectively customized and embedded in the tibial extension segment of a commercial knee prosthesis.

Using gyroscopes, accelerometers and a pedometer, CHIRP generates clinically relevant data on device function, range of motion, gait, patient behavior and early signs of loosening/infection/failure.

Canary combines its smart digital technologies with implanted medical devices from global manufacturing companies. Its lead program addresses the primary total knee joint replacement market, and the company is partnered with Zimmer Biomet for use with the Persona-IQ knee. FDA granted Canary a Breakthrough Device Designation in October 2019, and product launch could occur within 1H21.

In a 3Q20 earnings call, Bryan Hanson, President and CEO of Zimmer Biomet, noted that the “idea of a smart O.R. and leveraging data to drive decision support and efficiency is reflected in our exclusive relationship with Canary Medical. Through this partnership, we see the opportunity to further differentiate our knee ecosystem. Our goal is to launch an intelligent Persona total knee implant that incorporates Canary’s smart sensor technology. We feel a combination of active data capture from this smart implant that we already have from mymobility and we already have from ROSA is going to provide an unmatched dataset that ultimately could be leveraged through AI for decision support related to how best to treat and care for the patient. …[It’s a] very attractive area for us to differentiate the ecosystem and enter into an adjacent space in telehealth.”

CHIRP’s modular design allows it to be customized for a range of orthopedic devices in the future, including total knees from other manufacturers, total hip and total shoulder replacements and fracture fixation devices, potentially in 2023 and beyond.

Canary Medical expects to use the new loan proceeds for general working capital purposes. It has previously raised approximately $45 million from a syndicate of investors.

“We are thrilled with the support from such prominent biotech and healthcare lenders to fund our growth strategy as we look to bring our advanced implantable sensor technology that enables remote patient monitoring to market,” said Bill Hunter, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Canary Medical. “With capital from the facility, we are positioned well to complete the FDA approval process, commercialize CHIRP and develop additional products for other orthopedic procedures to grow our business.”