An innovator revolutionizing the diabetes prevention, early diagnosis and management, by delivering a complete solution: QuLab Medical

QuLab Medical started its life at the Tel-Aviv University as a research project focused on applying nanotechnological concepts, design, and engineering to current unmet needs in the field of wearable sensors and health-monitoring devices. One of the identified gaps was the need for sensor miniaturization with concomitantly reduced skin invasiveness in existing continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) solutions. Current CGM solutions are invasive, employing relatively bulky intradermal filaments for sensor positioning. QuLab Medical has realized that its over two orders of magnitude smaller sensor size implies that multiple such miniature sensors could be painlessly inserted into human skin. From that point, the company set its goal on developing minimally invasive patch-enabled sensors, initially focusing on continuous glucose monitoring as proof of concept for its unique approach.

QuLab Medical’s mission is to provide patients with a wearable device for real-time parallel monitoring of multiple metabolites. The company employs miniature microprobes for minimally-invasive skin insertion and positioning of its sensors in the intradermal space. Each microprobe, which is twice the thickness of human hair, carries a miniature sensor that continuously monitors a single metabolite, such as glucose. Multi-metabolite monitoring can be realized by introducing multiple independent microprobes, each carrying a different metabolite-specific sensor, through the skin. QuLab Medical’s electronic system captures and analyzes the signal from each sensor. Our revolution lies in data integration of multiple such metabolite-specific signals into a coherent and continuous metabolic profile. This provides a much clearer picture of a person’s metabolic status than what is currently available by continuously monitoring glucose alone using marketed CGMs.

QuLab Medical’s core sensor technology is unique to the field of electrochemical sensors used for continuously monitoring glucose and other metabolites. The company’s sensors have a much smaller footprint and better sensitivity and accuracy as compared with those used in marketed devices. Additionally, QuLab Medical also provides the ability to continuously monitor multiple key metabolites in parallel. Moreover, being based on semiconductor CMOS technologies, QuLab’s sensor fabrication process is fully FAB-compatible and scalable, reducing sensor cost and improving overall sensor reproducibility and performance. Finally, the minimally-invasive nature of our sensor array and the overall reduced patch size, combined with a simplified and intuitive skin mounting procedure, will result in much improved product compliance and patient adherence. QuLab Medical is backed by a group of visionary Israeli angel investors and is the recipient of multiple grants from the Israeli Innovation Authority (IIA). The company is also chairing the IIA-supported Israeli Biochip Consortium, which includes multiple internationally-recognized companies, such as Tower Semiconductors (now part of Intel) and numerous academic partners with expertise in cutting-edge sensor, chip, and electronic technologies. QuLab Medical has five pending patents, one of which has been recently granted in the US and we have recently been awarded a highly-prestigious grant by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).

Continuous Metabolic Monitoring (CMM) system and its role in diabetes management and prevention

QuLab’s CMM strategy involves continuously monitoring several key metabolites in parallel. The two main metabolites to be monitored are glucose and ketone bodies. Ketone bodies are products of fat breakdown and therefore serve as markers of fat metabolism. Continuously ketone bodies monitoring (CKM) in parallel to glucose will help reduce the risk for diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), a common and life-threatening complication for diabetic patients, especially ones that are insulin-dependent and/or treated by sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) Inhibitor therapy. These patients run the risk of elevated ketone body levels, produced by rapid lipid breakdown to compensate for the lack of sufficient sugar uptake. Such a condition occurs due to insufficient circulating insulin levels or when hyperglycemic conditions develop due to increased urinary glucose clearance. DKA may also develop under euglycemic conditions, meaning that it cannot be alerted to by using a CGM that only monitors changes in glucose levels. There is, therefore, a clear need for a CKM in parallel to a CGM to alert diabetes patients to rapid increases in their ketone bodies levels, which may indicate the development of DKA. Furthermore, many Type II diabetic patients, especially ones on ketogenic diets, frequently monitor their blood ketone bodies levels using available diagnostic test kits. However, such blood-based tests are inconvenient and involve multiple painful finger pricks daily. The use of an integrated CGM-CKM (CGKM) by these patients will allow them to effortlessly monitor and record their ketone body levels throughout the day and night. Finally, CGKM may also benefit prediabetics, which account for more than a third of the general US population. People with prediabetes usually cannot recognize their developing diabetic condition just by monitoring their blood sugar; therefore, their health deterioration cannot be identified while there is still a good chance of postponing or even preventing disease development. QuLab Medical claims that the use of a CGKM could provide this prediabetic population with a diagnostic and prognostic tool to preserve and even improve their health status.

Innovation and path ahead

QuLab Medical is constantly in the process of developing new sensing modalities and technologies and identifying new unmet clinical needs. The company is continuously expanding its IP portfolio and promoting its product scaleup manufacturing process capabilities. QuLab Medical has identified multiple opportunities for its CMM approach, for which we are seeking new applications and strategic partnerships. We strongly believe that by partnering with various healthcare stakeholders, viable paths to multiple healthcare and lifestyle market segments could be established. As already discussed above, QuLab Medical is focusing on developing and providing tools for mitigating clinical outcomes and complications associated with diabetes and other metabolic diseases and disorders. QuLab Medical is constantly growing, adding experts from multiple disciplines to its core team. The company is actively seeking collaborations and partnerships with hardware, software, and medical device developers and manufacturers, building relationships that will combine their differential competencies into one integrated ecosystem for product development, scalable manufacturing, distribution, and sales.

Meet the leader behind the success of QuLab Medical

Idan Tamir is the Founder and CEO of QuLab Medical. He is the developer of a novel silicon nanowire-based diagnostic platform for Ultrasensitive Biomarker Detection. Idan Tamir has also held several key positions in BMT DIAGNOSTICS, LTD, VIRGINIA LIFE SCIENCE INVESTMENTS, LTD, IMMUNARRAY, LTD, XENOLITH MEDICAL, LTD, RAD BIOMED ACCELERATOR, LTD, RAPIDX, LTD, QUARK PHARMACEUTICALS, INC, SENSIT, INC, NATIONAL JEWISH MEDICAL AND RESEARCH CENTER, and ISRAELI MINISTRY OF DEFENCE.

“Our platform is a gateway technology relevant to the management & prevention of multiple diseases and conditions”