Neurostimulation pain-relief device company SPR Therapeutics has raised its series A round of investment to $2.2 million.
The Cleveland-area company, whose pain-relief system is aimed at reducing shoulder pain in patients who’ve suffered strokes, has also engaged an investment banking firm to look for strategic partnerships, CEO Maria Bennett said.
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SPR is “very flexible” in the types of partnerships it’s looking for and is open to commercialization and technology development partners, as well as an outright acquisition, Bennett said.
The company has reached several milestones in recent months, including the first implantation of its shoulder-pain device in a patient. SPR has also applied for the CE Mark, which signifies European regulatory approval, and expects to receive the designation within a few months.
U.S. market clearance is likely a couple years away. SPR expects to soon begin a pivotal clinical trial aimed at obtaining U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearance.
The company is pursuing shoulder pain as the first application of its device, but views the device as a platform technology that eventually could treat pain in multiple areas of the body, Bennett said.
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SPR’s series A round was led by NDI Medical, a neurotech incubator that in 2008 sold a urinary incontinence device called MedStim to Medtronic for $42 million. A total of 17 investors participated in the round, according to a regulatory document. Cleveland nonprofit economic development group JumpStart has also invested in SPR.
SPR has developed a two-stage process for pain relief. First, a patient is treated with the company’s short-term device, the Smartpatch. Second, the patient is implanted with the company’s long-term MicroPulse device.
The technology works via a generator that electrically stimulates a peripheral nerve to exercise a muscle and treat a patient’s pain.