Ending the Madness
Of all the unmet medical needs confronting the healthcare industry today, psychiatric disorders looms large. For vendors of noninvasive and implanted neuromodulation systems, the market for treatment-resistant depression in particular is both alluring and elusive. Few people in this country are as aware of the shortcomings of our mental health system as Tom Insel. As the former director of the Nati…
Bioelectronics researchers report progress at NANS Meeting
This article appeared in the January 2022 issue of BioElectRx Business Report The 25th annual meeting of the North American Neuromodulation Society, which took place in Orlando FL earlier this month, attracted about 1500 researchers, clinicians, and engineers. Though most of the meeting was devoted to pain therapies and other neurological disorders, a session devoted to applied neuromodulation for vascular, non-vascular, visceral, and COVID conditions attracted a sizable number of attendees.
Astellas’ focus on technology leads to bioelectronic medicine
consulting editor January 2022 issue, BioElectRx Business Report A few pharmas have dipped their toes into bioelectronic medicine, but Astellas Pharma Inc. has declared it as a key element of its growth strategy over the next decade. The Japanese pharma says it believes bioelectronic therapies can deliver greater value to patients costs, and can also provide its prescription drug business with a competitive advantage derived from new biological insights.
Research Team Publishes Open-Source EEG Instructions
The worldwide market for EEG systems, estimated at about $1.2 billion , is currently dominated by a handful of large medtech vendors such as Natus Medical, who offer hospitals and other clinical settings standalone, multichannel neurodiagnostic systems for diagnosing disorders such as epilepsy, stroke, and Alzheimer’s disease. But the emerging market for portable and home-based EEG systems stands to alter the competitive outlook in this space.
Rebuilding MCIT
In the months that have gone the Medicare Coverage of Innovative Technology program, stakeholders have not sat still. There have been a number of efforts from within the medtech community to lobby the government to restore the program or else pass new legislation that codifies the important elements of the original rule, which promised vendors who received breakthrough device designation four years of Medicare coverage upon FDA approval.
Neurotech Vendors Use the Cloud to Advance Therapies
Vendors of neuromodulation and neurosensing systems are increasingly looking to the cloud to manage the massive amounts of data collected distribute that data in a meaningful way. Recently, two emerging neurotech firms announced new platforms that open the door to relationships with large medtech and pharma firms. Palo Alto, CA-based Inscopix, Inc. announced that it has launched IDEAS, a cloud-base…
Heart failure market elusive yet tantalizing for electRx vendors
One of the first indications to be targeted was heart failure. Although there are dozens of FDA-approved drugs for heart failure, they don’t help everybody—particularly patients with the most severe cases, NYHA Class III and IV—and there are side effects. Unfortunately, the history of bioelectronic medicine approaches to treating heart failure is replete with commercial and clinical trial failures.
Neurotech Veterans and Newcomers Discuss Past and Future at 2021 Leaders Forum
About 120 neurotechnology industry professionals attended the 20th anniversary Neurotech Leaders Forum earlier this month—roughly half in person and half on-line. The two day event, which took place in San Francisco, CA, was produced , the publisher of this newsletter. Neurotech Reports editor James Cavuoto opened the conference with a look back at the first Neurotech Leaders Forum in 2001, when the industry was just beginning to emerge.
2021 in Review
The neurotechnology industry experienced a number of positive developments in 2021 as the world began to dig itself out—perhaps prematurely—from the coronavirus pandemic that froze much of commerce in 2020. Although some scientific and industry conferences went fully virtual or were canceled outright, others, including the LSI Emerging Medtech Summit, the NANS Mid-Year Meeting, and our own Neurotech Leaders Forum, welcomed attendees back in person, albeit alongside virtual attendees.
Neurotech Reports Announces Winners of Gold Electrode Awards
Neurotech Reports, the publisher of Neurotech Business Report, announced the winners of the 2021 Gold Electrode Awards during the 20th Anniversary Neurotech Leaders Forum, which took place November 8-9 in San Francisco and also via Zoom. The award for best new product went to MicroTransponder Inc. for its Vivistim stroke rehabilitation system. The award for most promising startup went to Magnus Medical, which is developing a new form of magnetic stimulation to treat psychiatric disorders.