Rio Grande buys Cervel Neurotech’s Multi-Coil TMS technology to treat drug resistant depression

It will join targeted Pulse Electro Magnetic Field therapy (tPEMF) and closed-loop Transcranial Electrical Stimulation (cl-TES) as one of Rio Grande Neurosciences’ core technologies.

Despite undergoing treatment with antidepressant medications, approximately four-and-a-half million people either do not respond to, or cannot tolerate the side effects of their medications. The use of repetitive TMS is a proven and FDA-approved therapy for the treatment of drug resistant major depressive disorder (MDD).

The acquired patented rTMS system, which is based on foundational intellectual property developed at Stanford University, is unique in its multi-coil approach. In addition to treating MDD, clinical research is currently being conducted by Rio Grande Neurosciences and others globally, on the use of rTMS as a potential treatment for chronic pain, PTSD, addiction, OCD, bipolar disorder, mTBI and other diseases.

Rio Grande Neurosciences chairman and CEO Steven Gluckstern said: "This acquisition marks the final step in our initial strategy to create a comprehensive platform of NIBS technologies for the central nervous system, with a focus on brain trauma and neurodegenerative and psychiatric diseases.

"We believe the multi-coil system is a superior delivery mechanism to the single-magnet approach employed by all other manufacturers and we are excited about the therapeutic possibilities for rTMS both on a stand-alone basis and/or in concert with our other technologies."

"We are very pleased to have added rTMS to our suite of technologies," commented Dr. Mitchel Berger, the Chair of Rio Grande’s Medical Advisory Board and Chairman of the UCSF Department of Neurological Surgery. Dr. Berger, former President of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons continued, "rTMS represents a technology of great potential in many areas of neuroscience and Rio Grande Neurosciences looks forward to playing an important and leading role in that development."

In September, the Company announced a definitive agreement to acquire Ivivi Health Sciences’ FDA-cleared, targeted Pulsed Electromagnetic Field (tPEMF) technology; previously, Rio Grande licensed Ivivi’s tPEMF for use in the neurosciences.

The Company also recently acquired key patent applications related to closed-loop Transcranial Electrical Stimulation (cl-TES) including the areas of electrode design and implementation methodology.

"In 2015, mental illness and neurological disorders including depression, Alzheimer’s and dementia, will collectively cost the United States $760 billion. Even more problematic, the World Economic Forum estimates that the worldwide cost of mental illness alone in 2030 will reach $6 trillion. Decades of traditional drug-based research has disappointingly produced minimal results due in large part to the blood-brain barrier that limits the effectiveness of pharmaceutical therapies," continued Gluckstern.

"A key focus of Rio Grande Neurosciences is the development of electroceutical™ treatments as therapies that can either replace, or work in concert with pharmaceutical treatments, to address these vast, as of yet, unmet needs. The cost of continuing to treat neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders with pharmaceuticals alone will likely bankrupt our healthcare system. New therapies, such as non-invasive brain stimulation, that can effectively cross the blood brain barrier offer significant promise towards averting that crisis."

Details of the transaction were not disclosed and the law firm of Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP represented Rio Grande Neurosciences.