LONDON – Fixed and constant deep brain stimulation has been successful in treating Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy, but heterogeneity in individual response means that despite promise, clinical studies in serious depression have to date delivered inconsistent results. U.S. researchers have now developed a method for identifying the neural circuits underlying symptoms of depression in individual patients and applied this to deliver tailored therapy, using a commercially available device to stimulate the brain when these circuits are activated.
Neuropace Inc. nabbed $9 million in the form of a five-year NIH grant as part of the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative. The grant will support the study of the Mountain View, Calif.-based company’s Responsive Neurostimulation (RNS) system in patients with Lennox-Gastuat syndrome (LGS), a debilitating form of epilepsy.
The FDA granted breakthrough device designation status to Neuropace Inc.'s responsive neurostimulation (RNS) system for idiopathic generalized epilepsy, a subtype that represents about one-third of all epilepsies. The news closely follows the company’s March 24, 2021, SEC filing to raise $75 million in an initial public offering on the Nasdaq.
Neuropace Inc. has scooped up $67 million in a financing round that was led by Accelmed Partners. The funds will be used to accelerate commercial growth of its brain-responsive neurostimulator (RNS), as well as to advance new indications for the U.S. FDA-cleared system.