The current approach to treating depression doesn’t always work for many patients. SSRIs like Prozac and Zoloft take several weeks to kick in; electroconvulsive therapy can have hideous side effects.
Israeli startup Brainsway is developing a “transcranial magnetic stimulation” device that treats depression with MRI-like technology.
The device is placed over a patient’s head, and spurts of magnetic fields — at a similar amplitude as in an MRI — are generated to stimulate targeted deep brain tissues. Each session is supposed to last about 20 minutes. The prescribed treatment is about three to five sessions per week for about a month.
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“Our treatment reaches a very specific area in the brain – the reward system,” CEO Guy Ezekiel told MedCity News. “Exciting this portion of the brain will trigger a cascade of events in the brain that will help relieve depression symptoms in patients.
Indeed, it’s FDA cleared for treating severe depression in the U.S., for patients who don’t respond to antidepressant medications. It’s actually covered by U.S. insurers like Blue Cross Blue Shield and Humana. Several top medical centers are using the technology at present – including Harvard Medical School, Columbia University, Mt. Sinai Hospital and UCLA.
There are several companies developing next-generation devices to treat depression. Spain-based startup Neuroelectrics is developing a cap that mimics electroencephalogram treatment, but on a smaller and more portable scale.
Cambridge startup Tal Medical recently raised a $14 million Series B round to develop a tabletop device that, ostensibly, could help turn around depression symptoms in a single, 30-minute session. It also uses MRI technology.
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MRI technology has long been seen as a potential therapy for mood stimulation: 15 years ago, researchers at Harvard University’s McLean Hospital started observing that patients in an MRI study on bipolar disorder drugs were reporting euphoria immediately after getting scanned. While the reasoning behind this puzzled researchers, the findings were fairly consistent – which is why companies like Brainsway and Tal Medical are now repurposing that MRI technology to direct it toward a fast-acting device that treats mood disorders.
Brainsway was formed in 2003, and received FDA clearance in 2013 for depression therapy. It has a CE Mark for 12 indications, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and stroke. Ezekiel came on board just a few months ago, and the company’s in the midst of ramping up commercialization efforts of the technology.
U.S. depression therapeutics command a $10 billion market, though the size is shrinking – alternative treatment methods are gaining steam. This is meant to fit that niche.
It’s chasing several other indications for FDA sanction — including OCD and smoking cessation by 2017, and PTSD and bipolar disorder by 2017.
[IMAGE: Courtesy of Brainsway]
