Jana Care, Inc. Announces Initial Closing of a $6 Million Financing Round to Complete Commercialization of its Self-administered Blood Tests for Kidney and Heart Disease

• The Company's self-administered, quantitative blood testing platform enables remote risk stratification of chronic kidney disease and heart failure patients.
• New Lead Investor IAG Capital Partners (IAG), joins investor syndicate and global strategic partners, for the development of Jana Care's platform.

WATERTOWN, Mass., Nov. 8, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Jana Care, Inc., the pioneering developer of at-home self-administered testing technologies for chronic kidney and heart disease management, today announced the initial closing of a Series B financing, from a syndicate of new and existing venture firms. In addition to its ongoing partnerships with global leaders in diagnostic technologies and pharmaceutical development, Jana Care welcomes lead investor IAG Capital Partners. Jana Care will use the funds to expand the development of Jana Care's quantitative blood testing platform. The platform is designed to enable self-administered blood tests at-home and allows clinicians to review the test results remotely as needed. The platform capabilities aim to overcome distance and socioeconomic hurdles that currently hinder the timely detection and monitoring of chronic kidney and heart disease progression.

"Building on the strength of our global strategic partnerships, we are proud to expand our investor base in our fight to bridge the access gap for many chronic disease patients - especially in these post-pandemic times." said Anh Hoang-Lindsay, Chief Executive Officer of Jana Care. "We are thrilled to support Jana Care and its mission to increase quality of life for patients with chronic illness and are honored to support the management team." said Dr. Ehsan Jabbarzadeh, Venture Partner, IAG Capital Partners and new Board of Directors member. The recent pandemic accelerated the adoption of telehealth services which has benefited the management of acute and chronic conditions. This trend has highlighted that the need for reliable at-home and technologies that can provide a more convenient alternative for measuring critical analytes in remote, hard-to-reach settings and address the challenges of adherence to recommended testing guidelines. In the case of chronic kidney disease patients, adherence is just 20%. This is especially important for populations that are disproportionately impacted by hospital readmissions.

Health-related quality of life is significantly lower for patients with cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic (CKM) conditions a new patient management approach recently defined by the American Heart Association. "Patients who have multiple metabolic risk factors such as chronic kidney disease, and heart failure should be managed holistically instead of treating each risk separately. This is because these diseases are interconnected and an increased risk for one disease may accelerate the progression of another condition. By treating them together, doctors can improve a patient's overall health and reduce and predict complications." Said Dr. Carolyn Lam, Senior Consultant Cardiologist, National Heart Centre Singapore and Professor, Duke-National University of Singapore. Dr Lam continued "The availability of an accurate, home-based blood test would provide a means to directly address this goal and is a potential game-changer for the field."

"Unfortunately, the key blood tests needed to risk stratify individuals with CKM conditions, creatinine, potassium or NT-proBNP, are not yet available at-home for layperson use. The availability of this system would simplify or eliminate the barriers associated with adherence to testing and would reduce disparities in care, and support enhanced disease management resulting in reduced hospitalizations and healthcare cost reductions," said Dr. James Januzzi, cardiologist at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Hutter Family Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and Senior Cardiometabolic Faculty at Baim Institute for Clinical Research. Dr. Januzzi serves as the Chief Medical Advisor at Jana Care.

About Jana Care

Jana Care Inc is a venture-backed medical technology company that develops point-of-care testing platforms for the screening and management of chronic diseases - heart failure, chronic kidney disease and diabetes. Its novel digitally connected platform enables real-time testing using fingerstick blood samples at-home, with new tests for NT-proBNP, potassium and serum creatinine in development-biomarkers that are critical for managing kidney and heart disease patients. Jana Care is headquartered in Watertown, USA, and has established a product development and production facility in Bangalore, India

The CDC estimates that six in ten adults in the U.S currently live with a chronic disease- a leading cause of death and disability and leading driver of the Nation's $4.1 trillion annual health care costs. Within this population, distance to healthcare providers and socioeconomic barriers impede adequate and timely detection and monitoring of disease progression and the adjustment of therapies. 

This round of investment was supported by a syndicate of new investors IAG Capital Partners, Agent Capital, First Avenue Ventures, Minocherhomjee Family Trust and existing investors Patamar Capital, Team Fund LP, MK Energy Corporation

About IAG Capital Partners

Founded in 2017, IAG Capital Partners is a venture capital firm based in Charleston, South Carolina. The firm seeks investments in early-stage companies and partners with innovative leaders to build companies that will change the world. Ehsan Jabbarzadeh, IAG Venture Partner is Jana Care's new addition to its Board of Directors. Dennis Sacha, IAG Principle, will also join as a Board Observer.