Neurotechnology pain-relief device company SPR Therapeutics has increased its series A round of investment to $1 million and hopes to push the number up to $2 million, according to a regulatory document.
CEO Maria Bennett said earlier this year that Cleveland-area SPR was targeting a $2 million round to beef up its sales and marketing staff. Bennett didn’t return a call yesterday.
SPR has received investments from state-backed venture development group JumpStart and NDI Healthcare Fund, a neurotechnology investment fund that was publicly announced earlier this year.
SPR’s first product, the minimally invasive Smartpatch, is aimed at reducing shoulder pain in patients who’ve suffered strokes. The technology works via an external generator that electrically stimulates a peripheral nerve to exercise a muscle and treat a patient’s pain.
Bennett said in April that SPR had already submitted a 510(k) application for the device to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. A review of 510(k) applications cleared by the FDA in recent months yielded no mention of SPR.
SPR’s research has confirmed that the device could serve “a very large market” because the size of the market in treating severe pain is so huge — $150 billion, according to Bennett.
SPR, which stands for “stimulation for pain relief,” is a spinoff of NDI Medical, a neurotech incubator that in 2008 sold a urinary incontinence device called MedStim to Medtronic for $42 million. Bennett is a former Boston Scientific employee who was closely involved in developing the MedStim product after joining NDI a few years ago.
