Opterion Health, a preclinical Swiss life science company, has secured €8.4m through a bridge financing round.

Opterion was founded in 2012 by scientist Guido Grentzmann. The company is developing a novel peritoneal dialysis (PD) solution, aiming to revolutionise the dialysis market.

Peritoneal dialysis (PD) uses the body’s own peritoneal membrane within the abdomen as the filter to clean the blood. This procedure can be self-administered at home or on the move.

The money was exclusively raised from a limited number of professional private and institutional investors based in Switzerland and Germany. The proceeds from this financing round will be used to complete preclinical activities and prepare for entry into phase one.

Grentzmann said: “The PD market has not seen any significant innovation for over two decades. Hence, there is a high unmet medical need for a novel solution that not only offers better therapy outcomes, but also has the potential for reduced side effects, improved quality of life and higher survival rates of dialysis patients.

“Over 45% of dialysis patients suffer from diabetes, and an increasing number of patients no longer want to visit a clinic or a hospital for their therapy. This is especially true in times of pandemic, as we are currently experiencing.

“Therefore, our glucose-free PD solution is a much-needed innovation not only for the very large number of diabetic dialysis patients, but also for dialysis patients who want to improve their quality of life by having their therapy at home.”

Andreas Schmidt, CFO of Opterion, added: “Thanks to the very successful completion of our financing round – which was oversubscribed by more than 40% – Opterion is now in the position of being very comfortably financed for the next two years.

“This gives us the opportunity to execute our scientific as well as manufacturing plans and prepare for phase one with full speed.”