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As years go, 2022 was not as lucrative for the neurotechnology industry as some prior years, including 2021. Investor concern about the general state of the economy certainly had an impact on funding activity. But there were still some noteworthy investments in the neurotech space, including a $104 million round for Nalu Medical and a $77 million round for Cala Health. And although the size of earl…

Anyone who’s been watching news coverage of the Alex Murdaugh murder trial in South Carolina is grisly details in that case. But regardless of the eventual outcome and regardless of what one might think about the defendant’s character, it’s hard not to be moved addiction has taken on his life, and his family members. If nothing else, the case highlights the inescapable fact that addiction can afflict wealthy, upper-class people as well as those in urban, low-income environments.

While much of the world is currently focused on World Cup matches and a few months before Americans become enmeshed in NCAA Basketball, the neurotechnology industry seems to be fascinated with the fierce competition among firms developing brain-computer interfaces. Much of the current media frenzy on this subject no doubt stems from the role Elon Musk’s Neuralink startup is playing, given the current attention he has drawn from his antics while taking over Twitter.

The market for treating epilepsy with neurostimulation devices is one of the most secure segments of the neuromodulation industry, with several vendors offering FDA-approved implanted systems. But recent advances in neurosensing technology promise to boost revenues for neurotech firms offering neurodiagnostic products. Recently, two commercial firms reported progress. Mint Neurotechnologies Ltd., a spinout from Imperial College in the U.K.

About 3000 clinicians, researchers, neural engineers, and neuromodulation industry professionals returned to Las Vegas for the 2023 meeting of the North American Neuromodulation Society. Most attendees welcomed the venue change, after a brief stint in Orlando, FL in 2021 and 2022. At the meeting, Ali Rezai, associate dean of neuroscience at West Virginia University and executive chair and director of the WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, received a Lifetime Achievement Award from NANS.

The year 2023 started with a bang, as thousands of healthcare industry professionals descended on San Francisco for the annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference. A number of other healthcare industry conferences take place during the same time, including the Sachs Neuroscience Investment Forum and the Biotech Showcase. Traditionally, these January meetings in San Francisco focus on pharmaceutical investment opportunities, but a relatively new focus on medical devices and neuromodulation has emerged.

Founders and executives from several neurotechnology firms made presentations at the 2022 Bioelectronic Medicine Forum in New York City earlier this month. The neurotech professionals joined representatives of other fields of medtech, investors, and clinicians. The conference featured a panel discussion with venture capital investors and a session devoted to new technologies in bioelectronic medicine.

One of the most hotly discussed topics at the recent meeting of the North American Neuromodulation Society was how to respond to recent negative reports about neuromodulation, and in particular, two recent studies published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and JAMA Neurology [NBR Dec 22 p1]. During the opening plenary session at the conference, Anuj Bhatia from Toronto Western Hospital presented a detailed rebuttal to a Norwegian study of SCS published in JAMA last fall.

Since we started this publication a year ago, we have tried to inform our readers on the potential that new neurostimulation therapies offer to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, with respect to neuromodulation that affects end organs and system physiology. But new technologies that deliver stimulation to the body represent just one way how bioelectronic medicine can impact the drug industry.

A highly critical report published last month in JAMA Neurology casts doubt on the effectiveness of spinal cord stimulation for chronic pain. The report has raised concern among SCS vendors and pain doctors, some of whom challenge the findings and the methodology of the report and others who accept some of the criticism as fair game. The article, titled “Long-term Outcomes in Use of Opioids, Nonpha…