News

In recent weeks, the National Institutes of Health has awarded millions of dollars in funding to research institutions and commercial firms pursuing novel bioelectronic medicine therapies and diagnostics. The NIH’s SPARC program (Stimulating Peripheral Activity to Relieve Conditions) has been instrumental in funding the early development of the bioelectronic medicine industry. In Phase 1 of the pro…

NeuroVentures Capital Specializes in Funding Neuroscience Firms NeuroVentures Capital cannot boast having as large a fund or as well known a name as some of the Sand Hill Rd. firms on the west coast. But the Virginia-based firm can claim to be the largest, and perhaps the only VC firm to target the neuro space exclusively. NeuroVentures management includes two professionals with a well meshed combination of skills and experience.

The Force Within Us Christopher Reeve’s relationship with the media has proven to be something of a double-edged sword for neurotechnology professionals, as we discuss in our accompanying article. While Reeve has given a lot of credit to his activity-based rehabilitation, which includes functional electrical stimulation sessions, he has never been as strong an advocate for neural prostheses as he h…

What a Difference a Year Makes In many respects, it seems like several years have gone Business Report in September 2001. In the days before September 11, there was a significant media and industry interest that accompanied the launch of this publication and our newly published market research report on the market for neurotechnology. Unfortunately, our moment in the sun was scarcely longer than Andy Warhol’s prescribed 15 minutes.

The FDA’s recent alert about a possible link between cochlear implants and bacterial meningitis (see article, page 1) may not be the most devastating blow ever to have confronted the neurotechnology industry, but it is certainly a serious matter. In many ways, this crisis presents a test for our young industry; how we respond and bounce back from this situation may well be indicative of our level of maturity.

The prospect of developing and marketing a retinal prosthesis that restores at least some vision to blind individuals is one of the most exciting opportunities ever to confront the neurotechnology industry. Make no mistake—building a functional device will not be easy and the schedule is bound to slip as technical and organizational complications arise. But for perhaps the first time, there is a widspread belief among the neural prosthesis community that it is at least feasible to construct a retinal implant.

DBS Electrode Problems Create Neurotech Opportunity and Warren Grill, senior technical editor Deep brain stimulation is rapidly emerging as one of the most promising applications of neurotechnology. Over the last few years, the procedure, which involves surgical implantation of one or more electrodes in the thalamus or basal ganglia brain regions beneath the cerebral cortex, has proven to be an effective treatment for the movement disorders that occur in Parkinson’s Disease or essential tremor.

NeuroControl Corp.’s decision to drop out of the spinal cord injury market and target stroke instead (see article, this issue) has focused attention on at least two issues that will affect the future growth of the neurotechnology industry. First, and most obviously, the neurotech device industry, like any other industry, is driven by profit. The second, and more subtle lesson is that neurostimulati…

Life Sciences Industry Confronts Altered Financial Landscape at BIO Conference A number of new firms in the neurological devices and compounds field participated in the 2003 BIO CEO and Investor Conference, held in New York City February 26-28. Among the participants were Neurobiological Technologies, Inc., of Richmond, CA, Curis, Inc., of Cambridge, MA, Neurocrine Biosciences, of San Diego, CA, and Psychiatric Genomics, Inc., of Gaithersburg, MD.

Magnetic stimulation of the nervous system is a relatively new tool in the arsenal of clinicians and researchers working on neurological and psychiatric diseases and disorders. As we discuss in our article on magnetic stimulation and migraine research [link], this tool offers capabilities and characteristics not available with other neurotechnology tools. And nowhere are these advantages more pronounced than in the human brain, which has been largely inaccessible to researchers and clinicians alike.