SPR Therapeutics & NDI Medical Awarded $2.77 Million Grant

U.S. Department of Defense funds SPR's device therapy for post-amputation pain

CLEVELAND, Oct. 3, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- SPR Therapeutics and NDI Medical, its parent company, have received a $2.77 Million Peer Reviewed Orthopaedic Research Program Clinical Trial Award to advance SPR's peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) therapy to relieve post-amputation pain.  The research grant is from the U.S. Department of Defense office of the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs, which funds "innovative, high-impact, clinically relevant research to advance optimal treatment and rehabilitation from musculoskeletal injuries sustained during combat or combat-related activities." 

"The funding of our project for improving the functional outcomes of combat-injured warfighters using SPR's PNS Therapy is a significant milestone for SPR and NDI," said Geoff Thrope, NDI's founder, president and CEO. "We are grateful to the U.S. Department of Defense as this grant further validates the strength of our team and our work in developing innovative neurodevice technologies to address significant unmet health conditions and improve patients' lives."

"For those who have undergone amputation, pain, rather than the loss of a limb, is frequently what most negatively impacts their daily lives and prevents their return to active duty or employment," said Principal Investigator Richard Rauck, MD, of the Center for Clinical Research, Winston-Salem.  "Having studied SPR's pain therapy among multiple study participants to date, I'm eager to support this next phase of the research to advance the therapy towards commercialization.  There are thousands of military personnel and civilian candidates seeking an effective solution for post-amputation pain."

The grant award is a result of the successful completion of SPR's post-amputation pain feasibility study, in which the majority of study participants reported substantial pain relief, with the early results recently published in Pain Practice.  Furthermore, a significant impact on the study participants' quality of life was reported.

"There are very few effective options in the management of post-amputation pain," said Dr. Christopher Gilmore, an Anesthesiologist at Center for Clinical Research, who served as one of the study's investigators. "There aren't many therapies that produce positive results, so it's great when something like this has promise. The SPR approach is less invasive than other nerve stimulation therapies for pain that require an incision and surgery overlying or near the nerve to implant the electrodes, and the lead placement methods are like other procedures we do routinely." 

As the Department of Defense recently reported, the number of troops who lost limbs reached a wartime high in 2011.  In addition to these wounded warriors, there are approximately 1.7 million people living with limb loss in the United States alone, according to the National Limb Loss Information Center.  According to recent studies, post-amputation pain occurs in up to 85% of major limb amputees and is a significant treatment challenge.

SPR's technology platform is being developed to address a spectrum of pain indications affecting over 116 million Americans. The SPR PNS System uses a proprietary method of nerve stimulation to treat pain without requiring the electrodes to be surgically implanted or in direct contact with the peripheral nerves that carry the pain signal.  SPR's PNS System is an investigational device that is limited by U.S. law to investigational use.  The grant award from the US Department of Defense will support the next phase of the clinical research for SPR's PNS System and will be conducted by the excellent research teams at Carolinas Pain Institute and Center for Clinical Research, Winston-Salem, North Carolina and Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland.

"The objective of SPR's research program is to develop a minimally invasive PNS pain therapy that will ultimately enable thousands of combat-injured service members to obtain significant pain relief and functional improvement, and to allow them to remain on active duty or to seek gainful employment," said Maria Bennett, president and CEO of SPR Therapeutics. "SPR's pain therapy platform is non-narcotic and reversible and clinical studies in multiple pain indications suggest significant pain relief and improvement in quality of life may be achieved."

About SPR™ Therapeutics and NDI Medical

SPR Therapeutics (Stimulation for Pain Relief) is a medical device company that has developed a proprietary peripheral nerve stimulation therapy platform to address a critical unmet need for less invasive, longer lasting, and cost effective treatment for acute and chronic pain.  The company is sponsoring clinical studies to evaluate this technology in several pain indications.  SPR Therapeutics was formed in January 2010 as a portfolio company of NDI Medical, LLC, a leading commercialization firm that focuses on innovative neurodevice technologies to address significant unmet health conditions. For more information, visit www.sprtherapeutics.com.

SOURCE SPR Therapeutics