Allurion, co-founded by two Harvard Medical School graduates, has created a swallowable capsule that inflates to the size of a grapefruit to help people lose weight.
A Paris-based biotech company that has created a world-first non-surgical device to help people suffering from obesity to lose up to 15 per cent of their body weight in four months is making a major push into Australia.Allurion, co-founded by Harvard Medical School graduates Shantanu Gaur and Samuel Levy while they were still studying in 2009, has created a patented, swallowable capsule that inflates to the size of a grapefruit and dissolves within the body after four months.
“There are so many people struggling to lose weight around the world and available therapies are few and far between. There are billions of people who haven’t been successful with diet and exercise, but don’t want to do something as invasive as surgery,” Dr Gaur told“We had quite a big advantage being medical students because we could talk to patients and faculty members who were experts in this space.
The company received its first regulatory approval by the European CE Mark approval for its Elipse Balloon in 2015 and was approved by Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration in April last year. “Some patients may regain weight, or others may want to lose additional weight, and for those patients they can always come back and get another balloon. Those who do have lost more than 20 per cent of their total body weight.”Australian adults are obese or overweight,Allurion’s Elipse Balloons cost up to $7000 and there are no reimbursements under Medicare or private health insurance.
“Australia is exactly like our other markets. There is a high rate of obesity... and this innovation is matching patient outcomes - people want a safe and effective product,” he said. The company has raised $US80 million to date and is backed by the likes of Novalis LifeSciences, Romulus Capital, IDO Investments and ex-Covidien CEO Jose Almeida.Financial Times“Allurion is creating a totally new category. These are patients who have tried everything else, but surgery, and don’t want a permanent change,” Mr Chardon said.