New Patient Initiatives May Help Neurotech Products
Several new efforts now underway from government and nonprofit agencies to increase patient involvement in medical device design and development may help neurotech vendors get products to market sooner. Earlier this fall, the FDA released updates to its patient engagement program and guidance policies in an effort to improve innovative medical device access and protect those who rely on these medical products.
Neurotech Reports Announces Recipients of Gold Electrode Awards
Neurotech Reports, the publisher of this newsletter, announced the winners of the 2017 Gold Electrode Awards. The awards were presented at the 2017 Neurotech Leaders Forum in San Francisco earlier this month. The award for best new product went to Medasense Biometrics Ltd. for its PMD-200 system for reporting an objective measure of pain. The award for most promising startup went to GiMer Medical.
Entrepreneurs and Industry Veterans Take Part in 2017 Neurotech Leaders Forum
More than 100 neurotechnology industry professionals attended the 17th annual Neurotech Leaders Forum, held in San Francisco earlier this month. On day one, keynote speaker Tom Insel, former NIMH director and president of startup Mindstrong Health, gave attendees an overview of recent efforts to establish objective measures of mental health. Insel described some of the problems inherent in current methods of assessing mental health.
Comparison of Costs
Among the challenges confronting neurotechnology firms developing new products and therapies is obtaining reimbursement. Making this task more difficult is the fact that neurotech devices generally cost more than pharmaceuticals and many payers take a short-term view on the issue of relative cost-effectiveness. Fortunately, neurotech firms and clinicians are beginning to fight back. We’re pleased t…
Cleveland FES Center Expands its Focus to Novel Forms of Neuromodulation
When this publication first profiled the Cleveland FES Center more than 10 years ago, the center was unique for its collaborations and unquestionably a premier research institution in neuroprosthetics. Today, the center still thrives on collaboration but has expanded and diversified its role in the neurotechnology field. During the recent “State of the FES Center 2017” talk, executive director Robert Kirsch stressed that success is based on enabling trans-disciplinary collaborations.
Depression Market Poised for New Commercial Activity
The market for treating major depression and related psychiatric disorders with neuromodulation therapies, which had stalled in recent years after two failed clinical trials, seems ready to rebound. Several new vendors have announced new noninvasive brain stimulation devices and at least one established vendor of implanted devices released clinical data that holds out promise for new commercial activity.
The News from Here
The Neurotech Leaders Forum, which took place in San Francisco earlier this month, has always been a great opportunity for us to get updates from some of the leading neurotech firms [see Conference Report, p7]. This year, we had an opportunity to inform the industry of some new goings on at Neurotech Reports. To begin with, we announced that Jeremy Koff has joined the editorial staff of Neurotech Reports as senior contributing editor.
Neurotech Software Vendors Confront New FDA Regime
Vendors of digital health and software products used for diagnosing and treating psychological and neurological disorders will soon face a new regulatory framework set forth . The new regulations could impact vendors of brain assessment systems and other neurodiagnostic tools that incorporate software modules. FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb gave details of a new pre-certification pilot program for software as a medical device at the AdvaMed MedTech Conference in San Jose, CA earlier this month.
Visual Prostheses Market Moves in New Directions
The market for visual prostheses is attracting new players and new methodologies from existing vendors. In recent months, commercial and research teams have shown progress on a number of fronts. One of the pioneers in the field is the Artificial Retina team. Within that group are names like Mark Humayun and Jim Weiland at the Doheny Eye Institute at the University of Southern California, Robert Greenberg from Second Sight and Wentai Liu of the University of California Santa Cruz.
Key Startups and Industry Figures to Present at 2017 Neurotech Leaders Forum
Neurotech Reports, the publisher of Neurotech Business Report, announced that executives from several established and emerging neurotechnology firms will present at the 2017 Neurotech Leaders Forum. The 17th annual event will take place October 23-24 in San Francisco. The keynote speaker at this year’s conference is Thomas Insel, M.D., the former director of the National Institute of Mental Health and the co-founder and president of Mindstrong Health.