Simavita to list on Toronto exchange

Medical device company Simavita is planning to raise AU$15 million via an IPO, with the aim of listing on Canada’s Toronto Stock Exchange (TSXV) to promote its urinary incontinence technology in North America.

“We wanted to do a back door listing and found an already existing entity, GTech, on the Toronto exchange,” CEO Philippa Lewis explained. “This allows for a quick and simple way for Simavita to be listed.”

Simavita’s Smart Incontinence Management (SIM) platform technology is a wireless sensor technology that detects incontinent episodes and produces data that facilitates the development of incontinence management care plans.

Management of incontinence is a much-needed intervention, especially in aged care facilities with over 70% of residents experiencing urinary incontinence or involuntary leakage of urine.

“We have had four iterations of the technology in the marketplace,” said Lewis, who joined the company in 2008. “The first iteration came out in 2010 and generation four has just been released to the market and will be launched in the US in January.”

Since 2008, Lewis has raised $30 million to invest in the development and commercialisation of the technology within Australia.

The company has signed an exclusive distribution agreement with large US-based device company Medline. According to Lewis, Medline, a family-owned business, turns over US$5 billion per year.

Lewis said Simavita is also contemplating an ASX compliance listing and will be ramping up production and expanding to supply the US market.

“We will be moving to Canada and Europe in 2014,” Lewis said, “there are major players there and Simavita will roll out the technology in selected countries in the EU.

“The exciting thing is it is not just revolutionising health care in the ageing incontinence sector, we are collecting data that has never been able to be collected before for hundreds of millions of people,” Lewis enthused.

“The platform will change the way aged care is conducted; it will create a platform of data to guide decision-making in ageing populations.”