Based at EPFL Innovation Park, Aesyra has developed a medical device able to accurately monitor and relieve sleep bruxism - nocturne teeth grinding -, a highly prevalent condition without sustainable therapy that has negative impact on patient’s life and is associated with serious sleep disorders such as sleep apnea. The company led by Marco Letizia has already achieved several important milestones including securing IP, gathering clinical data and obtaining regulatory approval in EU for its first product.
Improving the life of millions suffering from bruxism
Caused by anxiety, stress accumulated during the day, obesity and sleep apnea, bruxism affects 66 millions of people in US and EU. Short-term symptoms comprise headache, facial pain and drowsiness. In the long run, bruxism provokes severe damage to teeth and dental implants, causes severe sleep disruption, and poor quality of life.
For decades, sleeping bruxism has been managed with dental appliances produced by dentists. Such appliances protect the teeth without treating the condition. Although with poor clinical benefits, this solution was the predominant solution proposed by specialists. In US and EU, 7.5M people receive this treatment every year. Leveraging on this existing market, Aesyra has developed AesyBite, a smart oral appliance that reduces bruxism by relaxing muscles during sleep. With AesyBite the start-up aims to replace traditional dental splints, which are ineffective to treat this condition.
Clinical data obtained by the company in collaboration with the Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne (EPFL), the San Gerardo Hospital (Monza, Italy), Clinique Universitaire De Médecine Dentaire (CUMD, Geneva) and Prof. Daniele Manfredini demonstrated the ability of the Aesyra technology to reduce the bruxism activity by 70% in subjects affected by this condition after 3 nights of use.
Ready for sustainable growth
At its industrial and financial stage, Aesyra has clearly benefited from participating in the Innosuisse Core Coaching, explains Marco Letizia who cofounded the medtech with Pietro Maoddi. This program represents a perfect opportunity to challenge a business case continuously for up to 3 years, at different levels of the company’s maturity and to grow the start-up’s network. Considering the progress made with Innosuisse, the founders highly recommend this program to other entrepreneurs.
The process ended with a due diligence by Innosuisse experts and the Innosuisse Innovation Council who certified that the company has strong IP, access to market and is a great case for growth. In addition to the gained visibility, the label shows investors the EPFL medtech’s market potential and enables the team to further benefit from internationalization offers at Innosuisse even after completing the program. Speaking of the coaching, Marco Letizia emphasizes that the founders benefited from the support of an experienced professional who understood the venture stage and gave them the right suggestions to move the company to the next level.
US and EU Markets in sight
Aesyra is currently in the process of raising CHF 4-5 million. The money will be invested to launch its first product AesyBite Discover, a bruxism monitoring medical device. The medtech also plans to conduct medical trials on its second product, AesyBite Active, the bruxism treatment medical device to enter the US and EU markets. Last but not least, the 5 persons strong team gets ready to advance the development of AesyBite Respira to treat sleep apnea and expand its internal sales force and R&D.
(Eugène Schön)
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