GSK Venture Fund Selects Neurostim Device Maker SetPoint Medical As First Investment

In a concerted effort to capitalize on the red-hot global opportunity for neuromodulation therapy, used to treat patients with chronic pain and other debilitating conditions, Action Potential Venture Capital (APVC) Ltd., a new $50 million strategic venture capital fund from pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK), has chosen as its first investment neuromodulation device company SetPoint Medical Corp. of Valencia, CA, which will receive $5 million from the APVC fund.

The investment is unique in that it brings a major pharmaceutical market player into the neuromodulation device field, and it illustrates the growing importance of device-mediated therapies for a wide range of common, chronic conditions. (See also Also see "Neuromodulation Market: Innovation Brings High-Growth Rewards" - Medtech Insight, 27 March, 2013..) However, GSK is not the first drug company to recognize the potential of the neurostim device space. Merck & Co. Inc.’s Global Health Innovation Fund recently participated in a $40 million Series A funding round for electroCore LLC, a New Jersey-based start-up developing a noninvasive, patient-administered vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) device for the treatment of cluster headaches and migraines as well as other chronic conditions. (See Also see "Emerging Peripheral Nerve Technologies Draw New Competitors To Neuromodulation Market" - Medtech Insight, 26 April, 2013..) Merck, which invested $12