NeuroPace snagged $74M in funding to expand commercialization of its device that treats epileptic seizures.
NeuroPace, Inc. snagged $74 million in funding to expand commercialization of its device that treats epileptic seizures.
With the millions of dollars of funding in hand, Silicon Valley-based NeuroPace said it will ramp up production of its NeuroPace RNS System, which was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2013. The NeuroPace RNS System is the first closed-loop brain-responsive neurostimulation system designed to prevent epileptic seizures at their source. The device, which is similar to a pacemaker for the heart, benefits patients whose seizures are not well-controlled by medicine alone. The RNS System is designed to treat seizures by continuously monitoring brainwaves, detecting unusual activity, and automatically responding with imperceptible electrical pulses, often before seizure symptoms occur.
Studies have shown the NeuroPace RNS System has shown a 72 percent seizure median reduction in patients seven years after the therapy was initiated. That includes 30 percent of patients who experienced seizure reductions of 90 percent or greater. During the seventh year post-implant, 25 percent of patients had a seizure reduction of greater than or equal to 93 percent.
In February, NeuroPace announced it had treated 1,000 patients with the NeuroPace RNS System. In the past eight months, an additional 300 patients have been outfitted with the device, NeuroPace said. Reuters noted that NeuroPace estimates another 450 patients will be implanted with the device this year and has hopes of doubling that in 2018.
Epilepsy is the fourth most common neurologic disorder in the United States. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, approximately 3.4 million people in the United States suffer from epilepsy. Of those, approximately one million people have medically refractory epilepsy for which medications do not provide seizure control.
“With this additional funding, we now have the resources necessary to substantially accelerate adoption of RNS System and improve quality of life for hundreds of thousands of patients in the U.S. alone who live with uncontrolled, disabling seizures,” NeuroPace Chief Executive Officer Frank Fischer said in a statement.
The funding round was led by the KCK Group and OrbiMed Advisors. Jonathan Silverstein, a partner with OrbiMed, said the clinical results obtained from the NeuroPace RNS System provide “very compelling evidence to alter the epilepsy treatment paradigm.”
“Even more exciting may be the unprecedented chronic EEG data captured by the RNS System, which provides physicians with a unique ‘window to the brain’ to improve patients’ outcomes over time,” Silverstein said in a statement.
