News

The neurotechnology industry has benefited greatly in recent months from new funding initiatives from government agencies such as the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. But now there is a steady stream of multibillion dollar biopharmaceutical and other healthcare conglomerates investing and partnering with neurotech firms and research organizations.

Neurotech Reports, the publisher of Neurotech Business Report, announced that several promising neurotechnology firms will present at the 2016 Neurotech Leaders Forum. The 16th annual event will take place October 24-25 in San Francisco. New additions to the agenda are Milton Morris, CEO of NeuSpera Medical Inc., Jason Richey, president of LivaNova’s neuromodulation unit, Roy Katz, vice president o…

One of the hallmarks of successful product marketing is a customer focus that prioritizes the needs and desires of the product’s intended user. In the medical device industry, manufacturers have often conducted focus groups to discern aesthetic or usability preferences for particular device designs. But focus groups or user surveys are of little use if the product cannot obtain regulatory approval.

In the few weeks since we published Jennifer French’s article about the surface stimulation market rebounding [NBR Jun16 p1], a number of new developments have emerged that further make her case. First, as we report on page 4 of this issue, pharmaceutical giant Bayer has entered the TENS market with its Aleve direct therapy device for back pain. The compact, adhesive device, which is available for…

DARPA Prosthetics Programs Seek Natural Upper Limb ial director A neurally-controlled arm and hand prosthesis that will perform, look, and feel like a natural limb is the goal of two Revolutionizing Prosthetics programs funded Projects Agency (DARPA). According to Col. Geoff Ling, DARPA’s manager of the programs, the goal is not only to advance the state of the art in prosthetics, but also to have…

Scarred for TENS devices from CMS and the demise of Empi, the surface stimulation market is on a slow but steady rebound. For more than 30 years, the market was dominated the treatment of pain. Many of the competitors in this space were gobbled up (formerly Encore Medical). The stream of acquisitions included vendors like Empi, Chattanooga Group, and Compex Technologies. Declining revenues and the CMS decision caused DJO to divest its Empi unit late last year.

In the 15 years that we have published this newsletter, we have witnessed a mismatch in the way new neuromodulation and neuroprosthetics products have been funded and commercialized. Neuromodulation products such as SCS systems for chronic pain have often been funded . Investors put up money to finance device commercialization and then earn their money back after it reaches the market. The route to…

About 250 neural engineers, clinicians, and neuromodulation industry professionals attended the Neuromodulation: The Science conference in San Francisco, CA earlier this month. The meeting was put on , the former president of the International Neuromodulation Society. The conference was a follow-on to the Mechanisms of Action Conference, which took place in Orlando, FL in 2014 [NBR Mar14 p7]. The c…

The Alfred Mann Foundation for Scientific Research, based in Santa Clarita, CA, is entering a new phase after the death of its founder, Alfred E. Mann, earlier this year. The serial entrepreneur founded the foundation in 1985 and it has developed several neurotechnology products and medical devices in the years since. Spinoffs from AMF include Advanced Bionics, Second Sight, Bioness, Axonics Modulation Technologies, Medallion Therapeutics, and Quallion.

In the two and a half years since this publication first reported the failure of the BROADEN trial of DBS for depression [NBR Dec13 p7], there has been considerable progress in advancing our understanding of how DBS modulates depression circuits. Unfortunately, there has been little effort new DBS therapies for depression. In part, this is because the BROADEN failure and an earlier failure /VS DBS has dampened enthusiasm and risk-taking at medical device firms.