MicroTransponder awarded $2.6M NINDS SBIR FastTrack U44 grant, announces $7M Series B funding

MicroTransponder, Inc.Feb 25 2010

MicroTransponder, Inc., a privately-held medical device company, has just announced a $7 Million Series B round of funding. MicroTransponder is developing a wireless neurostimulation platform for the treatment of chronic pain and other neurological indications.

“The support from the NINDS has been essential to the bringing this technology closer to regulatory clearance”

In addition, the Company is announcing that it has been awarded a $2.6 Million NINDS SBIR FastTrack U44 grant, which is a milestone-driven cooperative agreement to support pre-clinical validation of devices for the treatment of neuropathic pain and manufacturing scale-up. “The support from the NINDS has been essential to the bringing this technology closer to regulatory clearance,” stated CEO Will Rosellini.

This funding has allowed the Company to hire premier clinical and regulatory expertise and to prepare a series of clinical trials and regulatory filings on their initial product, the SAINT™ System for chronic pain. “We continue to focus on hiring the top neurostimulation talent,” stated CEO Rosellini. “Dr. Evan Rosenfeld has extensive clinical and regulatory expertise in the field of neurostimulation and chronic pain. Brent Tarver was part of the initial core team that brought neurostimulation therapy for the treatment of epilepsy from concept to bedside. Both individuals will drive our aggressive clinical and regulatory program to demonstrate the clinical utility of wireless neurostimulation,” continued Rosellini. The Series B round of funding consisted of existing Series A investors and new angel investors.

New Additions to Management

Dr. Evan Rosenfeld joins the company from Bioness Inc, where he was Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Medical & Regulatory Affairs. He directed all clinical, regulatory, and reimbursement activities for various external and implantable neurostimulation devices. He received his JD from U of Pennsylvania and MD from Medical College of Virginia. During his residency, concentrated on the neurorehabilitation of patients with a variety of neurological conditions, including stroke, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, and chronic pain. He has authored numerous peer-reviewed scientific publications, and he is a Fellow of the American College of Legal Medicine. Dr. Rosenfeld will serve as Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at MicroTransponder.

Brent Tarver brings over 20 years of experience in clinical studies focused on medical devices. Most recently he oversaw the product development and clinical study efforts at OrthoAccel Technologies. Prior to this, he worked at Cyberonics for 18 years and helped them grow from a small start-up into a prominent neurostimulation company. He received a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Rice University and is named on several patents. Bent Tarver will serve as Vice President of Clinical Affairs at MicroTransponder.