MicroTransponder’s Q1 2012 Newsletter

Serenity System for Tinnitus – 10-Patient Clinical Trial Successfully Completed

Spring is an exciting time for MicroTransponder.  The 10-patient tinnitus clinical trial demonstrated that our Serenity System* therapy is able to clinically reduce tinnitus in the patients.  Using the Tinnitus Handicap Questionnaire, 70% of the patients experienced a significant reduction in their tinnitus.  This is just one of the positive outcomes of the trial.  We will be presenting our entire set of clinical data Tinnitus Research Initiative Conference in Belgium this June.

Angel Round to Fund EU Clinical Trials Nearing Completion

Building upon the success of our tinnitus clinical trial, MicroTransponder has been raising an extension of our B round of funding.  We would be happy to discuss an investment opportunity with any additional investors as we expect to close this Spring.

Post Stroke Motor Therapy Being Prepared for Clinic

In November of 2011, the MicroTransponder research team published a paper in Cerebral Cortex which described how our unique paired vagus nerve stimulation therapy is able to generate significant changes in the motor cortex in animals following a simulated stroke.  This indicates that our therapy might be able to assist in treating a number of neurological indications related to movement deficit.  Further clinical testing is needed, but we are hopeful that we can help the nearly 800,000 patients who have strokes each year.  Many stroke survivors are not able to regain command of their upper limbs.  We are preparing our paired vagus nerve stimulation therapy for a clinical trial that will attempt to reproduce the rapid motor recovery we witnessed in the animal studies.  This stroke clinical trial could begin as early as Fall 2012.

Scientific Publications

In Q1, we submitted 5 papers to academic journals for publication.   One of them has been accepted for publication.  This paper covers the work in Phase I of our active U44 NINDS cooperative development program.  Here is a summary of the submissions:

1) “In vivo tests of switched-capacitor neural stimulation for use in minimally-invasive wireless implants”.  This manuscript discusses the MTI exponential waveform and demonstrates sciatic nerve activation in rats by measuring cortical responses.

2)  “A novel waveform to generate paresthesia with selective nerve fiber activation”.  Compares the exponential pulse to a conventional rectangular pulse in a clinical setting.

3)  “Effects of electrode spacing on nerve excitation with voltage controlled capacitive discharge”. Describes our four electrode configurations to demonstrate which electrode size/spacing activates the nerve better.

4)  “SAINT: A wireless peripheral nerve stimulator”. Details the SAINT wireless neurostimulator design and performance.

5)  “Wireless Peripheral Nerve Stimulation Increases Pain Threshold in Two Neuropathic Rat Models”.  Describes the preclinical studies conducted with the SAINT wireless neurostimulator and demonstrates that the MTI exponential pulse can improve pain symptoms.

Closing

We are seeing the clear signal that our therapy is working.  After decades of tinnitus research, we now have a trial showing positive short-term outcomes for tinnitus patients who have previously failed other treatments.  We are very excited to be very close to finishing our current round of funding and focusing back on clinical trials using a fully implantable device that is ready for clinical trials and commercialization.  We hope to bring this therapy to the patients as soon as possible.  We see the exciting promise of our therapy in other areas of neurological disease as well.  Please reach out if you would like to help us reach this goal.

– Will Rosellini, CEO

* CAUTION–Investigational device. Limited by Federal law to investigational use.