Business Environment
Why did NeuroInsights Report rank Cleveland+ as the #5 location in the world for neurotech healthcare and #6 for neurodevice companies? Why have so many new neurodevice companies been launched in Cleveland+ over the past decade?
Simply put, Cleveland+ stimulates neuroscience innovation by nurturing academic, clinical and engineering talent who develop new neuroscience, technology and therapies; seeding companies to commercialize these advanced technologies through programs such as Ohio’s Third Frontier; and growing neurodevice companies with resources from regional business development organizations and incubators.
For example, Neuros Medical was recently founded to commercialize neurostimulation technology developed at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU). According to Joseph Jankowski, CWRU’s Associate Vice President for Technology Management, “It’s satisfying to see that the intimate collaboration among JumpStart, BioEnterprise and Case Western Reserve University’s researchers and commercialization leadership so quickly leads to ventures that impact the region in terms of health care and financial returns.”
Key neurodevice companies in Northeast Ohio include:
NDI Medical (Neurostim Design and Innovation), founded in 2002 by Geoffrey Thrope, a graduate of CWRU’s biomedical engineering program, is a medical device incubator developing high-growth companies that focus on innovative neurostimulation technologies to address significant unmet health conditions.
Checkpoint Surgical , a spinout company from NDI Medical, has developed an FDA approved single use nerve location and protection device for intraoperative use by surgeons. The product is useful in over 2 million orthopedic, ENT, neurological and plastic surgeries.
SPR Therapeutics (Stimulation for Pain Relief) , another NDI Medical spin-out, is developing a platform technology which utilizes peripheral nerve stimulation methods to treat chronic pain disorders. The first application of the technology is for treatment of post-stroke shoulder pain, a disorder that affects a large number of post-stroke survivors.
Neuros Medical is focused on developing neurostimulation therapies for unmet needs to patients worldwide. The Company’s neurostimulation therapy delivers solutions for patients with chronic pain including neuroma/residual limb pain with future applications in chronic post-surgical pain.
CleveMed (Cleveland Medical Devices, Inc.) develops, manufactures and markets innovative biomedical signal processing and instrumentation devices. CleveMed has become a leader in miniaturized wireless telemetry, physiological monitoring and rehabilitation devices addressing the needs of the medical, research and academic communities.
CSF Therapeutics is developing a novel device to prevent neurological debilitation and death caused by diminished cerebral blood flow. This condition affects more than 10 million individuals in the US, and includes stroke and Alzheimer’s disease. Based on the research at Cleveland Clinic, CSF Therapeutics’ device is designed to increase cerebral blood flow indefinitely without affecting vascular or systemic function.
Intelect Medical is focused on advancing deep brain stimulation (DBS) therapy for improving the recovery of chronic Stroke and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) patients. Intelect maintains offices in both Cleveland and Boston.
NeuroWave System Inc. develops, manufactures, and markets monitoring devices using advanced signal processing of brain waves and other biosignals for Neurology, Anesthesia, Emergency Medicine and Psychiatry applications, in order to improve patient outcome and quality of life.
Synapse Biomedical has developed the FDA approved NeuRx Diaphragm Pacing System, a neurostimulation technology designed to help spinal cord injury patients decrease their dependency on mechanical ventilation. The technology is also being developed for diaphragm conditioning in muscular dystrophies (such as ALS) and in respiratory short-term intensive care setting.