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| Implantable Neuro-stimulation System--Courtesy of G-Therapeutics |
It's hard to fault some med tech startups for lack of ambition, as they aim to help the blind see or the paralyzed walk. Dutch and Swiss neurostimulation company G-Therapeutics clearly falls among these ranks.
It's raised €36 million ($41 million) in a Series A round and debt to finish developing and start clinical trials for its Implantable Neuro-stimulation System to restore lower limb function, including walking, to patients suffering from paralysis due to spinal cord injury.
"G-Therapeutics will enable the development of realistic therapeutic solutions for people with spinal cord injury," said Grégoire Courtine, the International Paraplegic Foundation Chair in Spinal Cord Repair at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, in a statement.
G-Therapeutics is a spinoff from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne; it has offices in that city, as well as in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
The implantable system delivers electrical pulses to the appropriate nerves at the correct time to facilitate the raising and lowering of the legs and feet during walking. Courtine's research team has already shown that a combination of neurostim via the implantable system with "will-powered" training can result in a "massive remodeling of residual neural connections, restoring voluntary control over paralyzed limbs."
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| Grégoire Courtine |
It's based on over 15 years of research and is designed to offer real-time motion feedback and intent-driven rehabilitation.
The €26 million Series A was co-led by LSP, INKEF Capital, Gimv and Wellington Partners. G-Therapeutics got an additional €10 million in a loan from the Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland, which is part of the Dutch ministry of Economic Affairs that is tasked with supporting innovative therapeutic development.
G-Therapeutics will use the funds to complete development of the Implantable Neuro-stimulation System and to conduct a multicenter clinical trial that would be sufficient for regulatory approval.
As part of the financing, the company's board will include Jan Ohrstrom, former CEO of Profibrix, as chairman; Patrick Van Beneden, partner at Gimv; G-Therapeutics' Courtine; Regina Hodits, general partner at Wellington Partners; Jan Keltjens, senior director at INKEF Capital; and John de Koning, partner at LSP.
"G-Therapeutics is uniquely positioned to translate an exciting and highly promising technology into products that have the potential to transform the future of spinal cord injury treatment," concluded LSP's de Koning.
- here is the release