April 30, 2025 | Due to the unique anatomy of our skeletal system, certain components degrade faster than others. The intervertebral disc’s inner core (nucleus pulposus) is particularly vulnerable. Lacking blood vessels, this tissue depends entirely on fluid diffusion from the disc’s outer surface for oxygen, glucose, and waste removal. This diffusion process is facilitated by negatively charged, hydrophilic glycosaminoglycan molecules produced by resident chondrocytes. With age, glycosaminoglycan production decreases, reducing fluid diffusion and leading to chondrocyte death and development of degenerative disc disease.
Medicare data indicates that 27% of seniors in the U.S. suffer from DDD, experiencing low back pain and reduced mobility. Current treatments include physiotherapy, steroid injections, and opioid-based painkillers, all with limited efficacy. Approximately 700,000 U.S. patients annually undergo spinal fusion surgery, which further restricts mobility and often triggers degeneration in adjacent discs. As a last resort, spinal cord stimulation may be recommended for pain relief after two failed surgeries. These approaches primarily address pain symptoms rather than the underlying disc degeneration.
Recently, as part of a first-in-human study, 10 DDD patients in Canada and Italy received implants of a novel device designed to halt and potentially reverse disc degeneration. This technology, developed by Israel-based Discure Technologies, draws inspiration from the biology of the disc’s inner core. The system consists of a subcutaneously-placed implantable pulse generator and a tiny electrode placed into the degenerated disc’s nucleus pulposus. It delivers brief negative charge pulses that restore the fluid diffusion process, preserving chondrocytes and potentially regenerating the degraded inner core.
In 2024, the company secured $16 million in Series A funding to launch the FIH study. While peer-reviewed clinical data has not yet been published, Discure’s CEO Yuval Mandelbaum reports preliminary results showing significant improvement in functionality and pain reduction in all implanted patients. The implantation procedure takes only 20-25 minutes under local anesthesia and can be performed as an outpatient procedure by a surgeon or an interventional pain physician at an ambulatory surgery center, eliminating the need for a hospital operating room.
Discure received the FDA’s Breakthrough Device Designation in 2021 and was accepted into the TAP program in February 2025. According to Mandelbaum, the company has established a strong IP position covering its technology and its uses in treating different orthopedic indications, either as a standalone treatment or in combination with gene or cell therapies. The advantage of such combination approaches lies in their complementary mechanisms: the negative charges create a hospitable microenvironment within the nucleus pulposus, while gene/cell therapies can replenish chondrocyte populations and enhance their activity.
Discure’s approach differs from other electrical restorative therapies, such as Mainstay Medical’s ReActiv8, which focuses on restoring functionality of the multifidus muscles that stabilize the spine and maintain posture. While both technologies are biologically inspired and address low back pain, they target different tissues: disc’s inner core versus multifidus muscle. Depending on the severity and location of tissue atrophy, patients might benefit more from one approach or potentially from a combined treatment strategy.
Biologically inspired therapies like Discure’s device represent a fundamental shift from pain management to addressing the root causes of DDD by working with the body’s natural processes to potentially halt or reverse degeneration, providing more sustainable long-term patient outcomes and quality of life.
