January 2024 issue
January 31, 2024 | The North American Neuromodulation Society opened 2024 with a celebration of its 30th anniversary. The conference has grown over its lifetime from a few hundred attendees in its infancy to more than 3000 in attendance this year.
A significant factor in the society’s growth has been the inclusion of novel program elements including several pre-conference workshops ranging from cadaver labs to commercially oriented programs such as i3—Invention, Investment, and Invigoration. The concept for i3 came under the stewardship of NANS past presidents, Ali Rezai and Ashwini Sharan. The first program ran in 2012 and was meant to focus on the entrepreneurial spirit within the field of neuromodulation.
“The vision was to bring stakeholders together to learn from each other and share experiences,” noted Sharan. “And this was a world where Nevro was performing their clinical trials, and before directional DBS electrodes from Boston Scientific and Abbott.”
Today, i3 continues to foster innovation and commercialization under new leadership. The 2024 workshop was co-chaired by Nandan Lad, a neurosurgeon, scientist, entrepreneur, professor and vice-chair of innovation for Duke Neurosurgery and James Cavuoto, an engineer by training and editor and publisher of this newsletter. With dynamic content, chairs, and session leaders, the program explored the latest advancements in neuromodulation, bringing together experts from various field. Each of the seven sessions, keynote address, and industry overview inspired insightful discussions.
Cavuoto opened the program with recent market trends, data, and analysis of the commercial side of neurotechnology. His overview addressed the current landscape and future trajectories of neuromodulation including recent key investments, regulatory and reimbursement news and analysis of the year ahead.
Jordi Parramon, CEO, general partner, and co-founder of Nexus Neurotech, provided an inspiring keynote address chronicling his ascension from his early academic days at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona where he completed his M.S. and Ph.D. in electrical engineering, through his early professional experience at industry stalwarts like Boston Scientific and Advanced Bionics. His life took a notable turn when he left Valencia, CA and BSCI to work in the northern half of the state with Verily while also serving on the board of directors of Galvani. All throughout his presentation, Parramon’s slides were freckled with photos of his teams—both in the lab and in social and sporting expeditions. He noted the importance of his teams at every step of his journey. Team will be particularly crucial as he and co-founder William Marks endeavor to helm the $100 million Nexus Neurotech Fund. The fund, created in 2023, will support breakthrough technologies for brain disorders with a particular focus on Parkinson’s disease, bipolar disorder, and autism.
Parramon’s keynote was followed by an investment panel featuring Juan-Pablo Mas, partner at Action Potential Venture Capital, Josh Schulman, CSO with Corundum Neuroscience (formerly Joy Ventures), and Ariane Tom, general partner of Kaleida Capital. Traditionally, discussions with venture representatives focus on forecasts for the coming year and retrospectives of the previous twelve months. While the panel did discuss these issues, it was more strongly focused on novel topics faced by venture capitalists, including the climate to raise money for new funds, novel investment strategies—such as Action Potential’s early and unique focus on bioelectronic medicine and Corundum’s multiple levels of support even before investment occurs, and Tom’s unique experience of starting a solo, woman-run neurotechnology fund.
NBR senior consulting editor Jeremy Koff led a discussion on noninvasive neuromodulation solutions from companies like Neuromod Devices, Spark Biomedical, and electroCore. Novel approaches such as bi-modal stimulation presented through Neuromod’s Lenire device to treat tinnitus and Spark’s auricular nerve stimulation for opioid use disorder withdrawal reduction allow technology to treat conditions that pharmacological solutions have either undertreated or failed to address entirely. electroCore serves as the voice of the longest of the approved wearables and it was clear through discussion that these companies are making strong cases for devices to be considered first line therapies.
The morning half of the program closed out with a moving panel discussion focused on cutting edge companies at the opposite end of the spectrum: brain implants. Ian Burkhart, one of the most visible of the BCI pioneers shared his brain implant experience and underscored the importance of continuing to advance the technology. Even for people familiar with Burkhart’s experience, it remains a moving call to action. In early days, Blackrock Neurotech was the only game in town. As evidenced by the depth and breadth of technological expertise and new indications represented on the panel, brain implants have come of age. With the advent of cutting edge therapies also comes new opportunities for regulatory engagement. To that end, former FDA scientific reviewer, Devjani Saha, chimed in on challenges and opportunities in the broad deployment of BCIs.
Neuromodulation isn’t restricted to the head. Victor Pikov, entrepreneur and Neurotech Reports contributing editor, helmed a discussion with senior leaders at Galvani and SetPoint Medical. Bioelectronic medicine focuses on what were once considered to be experimental targets for neuromodulation but today hold tremendous promise outside of the central nervous system.
The afternoon sessions continued to echo the imperative for i3 as set out by its originators with panels and partnering with strategics. As fate would have it, Sharan is presently the CMO of Medtronic Neuromodulation and joined the conversation alongside leaders from Abbott Neuromodulation, Nevro, and Boston Scientific.
The program continued with a deep dive into the intricacies of conducting bulletproof clinical trials, emphasizing the importance of robust research methodologies and the intricacies of trials designed specifically for neurotechnology devices. Tim Marjenin, vice president and head of neurology for MCRA, Vivek Pinto, director of neuromodulation and physical medicine devices with the FDA, and Kip Ludwig of the University of Wisconsin shared personal and professional experiences about the novel and critical nature of well-designed trials.
Sharan opened the 2012 conference by highlighting i3 as a new opportunity to bring together industry and stakeholders to a single event and provide a platform to discuss the relevant issues for the invigoration of the field of neuromodulation. It is the hope of this year’s chairs and contributors that we have lived up to this vision and inspired even broader attendance and participation in 2025.
