News

Small Change The financial news from the neurotechnology industry in recent months has been dominated by big-money transactions. Multi-billion- dollar mergers like the St. Jude Medical/ANS deal and the Boston Scientific/Advanced Bionics purchase have helped garner attention to our relatively new and growing industry. But despite all this lucrative activity, the field is still populated companies whose nine- and 10-digit paydays are still down the road a bit.

Neurotech Vendors Pursue Alternative Power Strategies , senior technical editor The implanted stimulators used in cardiac pacing, cardiac defibrillation, and neural stimulation are, in most cases, powered , and when these batteries are depleted the devices must be replaced. Surgical replacement, which is expensive and carries associated risks, is required for continued treatment. Deep brain stimula…

Neurotech Vendors Prep for Changes in Reimbursement Manufacturers of neurotechnology devices and systems are preparing for a variety of changes to the amount of reimbursement for neurotech devices and the procedures for obtaining reimbursement. Much of the impetus for this change has been brought on be changes in leadership and philosophy at the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), though changes at private insurers and foreign government agencies are also in the wind.

The Brains Behind the War The influx of thousands of American military personnel returning from Iraq with brain injuries, amputations, blindness, and other neurological conditions presents an unusual and uncomfortable opportunity for the neurotechnology industry, as we report in our article on page 1 of this issue. Neurotech firms active in the neural prosthesis and neurorehabilitation markets may well see increased business resulting from these new potential users.

Brain Stimulation an Option for Epilepsy Market , senior technical editor Approximately one third of the 2.3 million Americans with epilepsy are refractory to medical treatment. This has led to substantial efforts to develop neural stimulation devices to treat epilepsy. Cyberonics’ VNS system for stimulation of the vagus nerve is the only device on the market to treat epilepsy, and last year had 18 percent growth in international sales.

Neurotech Professionals Discuss Future at Cleveland Clinic Innovations Summit More than 800 neurotechnology industry representatives, clinicians, and researchers attended the Cleveland Clinic 2006 Medical Innovation Summit in Cleveland, OH earlier this month. This year’s event was devoted to the neurosciences and the event featured a number of presentations and panel discussions from neurosurgery, neurology, psychiatry, neuroimaging, and other departments at the institution.

Gold Electrode Awards to be Presented at 2006 Neurotech Leaders Forum in San Francisco Neurotech Reports editors will announce the winners of the 2006 Gold Electrode Awards at the annual Neurotech Leaders Forum, to be held September 28-29, 2006 at the Crowne Plaza San Francisco International Airport. The awards will be presented at a luncheon ceremony the second day of the event. Award categories include Best New Product, Most Promising Start-Up Firm, and Neurotechnology Researcher of the Year.

Cyberonics Chairman and CEO to Keynote 2006 Neurotech Leaders Forum Robert P. “Skip” Cummins, chairman and CEO of Cyberonics Inc., will be the keynote speaker at the 2006 Neurotech Leaders Forum September 28-29 in San Francisco, CA. Cummins will share some of his experiences dealing with regulatory, technical, and marketing issues during his tenure at Cyberonics, the Houston, TX manufacturer of vagus nerve stimulation systems.

Neural Engineers Gather for IEEE EMBS Conference on Neural Engineering , senior technical editor The 2nd International IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society Conference on Neural Engineering was held March 16-19, 2005 in Arlington, VA. The meeting, chaired , drew over 240 attendees representing 27 countries, and about half of the attendees were students. There were 186 papers spanning the gamut of neurotechnology, including brain computer interfacing, neural stimulation, and hardware development.

2005 in Review The year 2005 was a banner year for the neurotechnology industry in many respects. Overall, financial performance of both public and private companies trended in the direction of black ink. There were a large number of new products receiving FDA approval during the year. Plus there were several healthy mergers and acquisitions and several startups in the space obtained venture-capital funding during the year.