Brainsway surged on the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange today after the company announced positive results from a study of its transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) treatment in severely depressed patients.
Non-invasive TMS treatment involves applying brief magnetic pulses to the brain. The pulses induce an electric field in the underlying brain tissue. When the field is above a certain threshold, it can be directed in an appropriate orientation relative the brain's neuronal pathways and activate the neurons, according to the company's website.
To test the idea, the company evaluated 233 patients in Israel, Germany, Canada and the U.S. who had failed to respond to or had experienced side effects from therapeutic treatments. The result: After 5 weeks, there was a statistically significant difference between those treated with Brainsway's Deep TMS and the control group (30.4% of the Deep TMS patients experienced remission, versus 14.5% in the control group), Globes reports.
The results are very good news for the company, which wants to submit an application to the FDA by the end of the second quarter, according to CEO Uzi Sofer. The company's shares jumped 37%--the most in 5 years--on the news, according to Bloomberg.
In spring 2011, the company filed its prospectus with the SEC to raise $30 million on NASDAQ and would use net proceeds to enter new markets and produce its non-invasive deep transcranial magnetic stimulation device. It subsequently postponed doing so, citing market conditions.
- get more from Globes
- check out the Bloomberg story