INBRAIN Neuroelectronics, a company at the intersection of medtech, deeptech and digital health dedicated to developing the world’s first graphene-based intelligent neuroelectronic system, announced a collaboration with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company. The aim of the collaboration is to co-develop the next generation of graphene bioelectronic vagus nerve therapies targeting severe chronic diseases in Merck’s KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany therapeutic areas through INNERVIA Bioelectronics, a subsidiary of INBRAIN Neuroelectronics.
“We aim to accelerate developments in the emerging field of bioelectronics by boosting the novel modality of selective neurostimulation,” said Laura Matz, Chief Science and Technology Officer of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. “Today’s agreement with INNERVIA Bioelectronics gives our company access to a unique technology that increases energy efficiency in neurostimulators and could therefore become a true enabler for digital personalized treatment of patients suffering from severe and chronic diseases such as inflammatory disorders.”
Both partners will closely collaborate over the next few years to actively drive this potential paradigm change in treating diseases with high unmet medical needs. With its bioelectronics research facilities, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany is well equipped and can build on its data science, clinical, regulatory, and quality expertise to bring novel devices to patients in the near future. INNERVIA will add its technical expertise in the development of graphene interfaces, device development, and signal processing for clinical applications. Initial work will focus on inflammatory, metabolic, and endocrine disorders, using the promising capabilities of graphene for miniaturization, precision, and high modulation efficiency in the vagus nerve.
“This partnership highlights the importance of key players in their respective domains joining strengths to develop electronic therapies based on minimally invasive technologies and precise signal coding, enabled by graphene, for patients with debilitating, systemic, chronic conditions,” said Jurriaan Baker, CTO of INNERVIA Bioelectronics. “Our shared mission is to improve outcomes for these patients, who live with scarce information about their conditions and little control over their journey,” added Carolina Aguilar, Co-founder & CEO of INBRAIN Neuroelectronics.
“Bioelectronic devices have the capability to directly communicate with the nervous system. Recording nerve signals and combining them with other accessible physiological datasets will lead to a better understanding of disease conditions and enable personalized treatment regimens,” said Robert Spoelgen, Head of Bioelectronics, Innovation Center of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. “We are convinced that bioelectronic devices will play a significant role in the future therapeutic landscape.”
Altered and dysregulated nerve signals occur with many severe chronic diseases. Bioelectronic therapies aim to address a wide range of chronic diseases using small, implantable devices to modulate electrical signals passing along nerves in the body. Furthermore, neurostimulation devices are expected to become increasingly smart as a result of additional features such as continuous readouts, data analysis and data transmission, which will increase the energy use of the device. Yet at the same time, the devices are expected to miniaturize further. These trends are creating significant challenges for the supply of power to these devices. In addition, certain indications have particularly high and continuous power requirements due to the specific disease characteristics. With current technologies, it is extremely difficult to develop viable neurostimulation therapies for these indications.
Improving the energy efficiency of these devices will play an important role in overcoming this power supply dilemma, since alternatives such as energy harvesting are still in their infancy and are far from practical clinical applications. Reduced Graphene Oxide (rGO) offers ideal material characteristics for significantly decreasing power consumption while maintaining stimulation efficacy. This is achieved through a high charge injection limit combined with very low impedance compared with all other available electrode materials. Graphene, a two-dimensional material first isolated in 2004, is made of a lattice of carbon atoms only one atom thick and is the strongest material ever tested at roughly 100 times the strength of an equivalent thickness of steel. INNERVIA’s technology harnesses the power of graphene, which has unique electrical and thermal conduction properties that are still being explored. This partnership announced today aims to push the potential of graphene technology to the next level in the field of bioelectronics.