Cala Health said this week it inked a deal to license technology from Partners Healthcare and its affiliate Massachusetts General Hospital intended to improve the company’s non-invasive neuromodulation platform for investigating and treating chronic diseases.
The licensed technology was developed from research on transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation and respiratory-gated vagal afferent nerve stimulation at a research lab in the MGH, the Burlingame, Calif.-based company said.
“This collaboration with MGH’s cutting-edge research team provides a clear opportunity to accelerate development of wearable neuromodulation therapies for many chronic diseases. By working together, our combined team can discover, develop and deliver breakthrough therapies for patients living with these conditions,” founder & CEO Kate Rosenbluth said in a press release.
As part of the licensing agreement, the original inventors of the technology will work with Cala Health as advisors on its development, the company said.
“This collaboration is the result of years of research and development on the links between brain and cardiac function, and our team is excited to be working with an established company that has experience taking new devices through clinical studies and regulatory clearance,” Women, Heart and Brain Global Initiative exec director Jill Goldstein of Harvard Medical School said in a prepared release.
“There is a great need to offer effective therapies that are not based on drugs or invasive implants. Non-invasive neuromodulation may help address that need,” said Vitaly Napadow of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School said in prepared remarks.
In December, Cala Health launched a clinical trial of the latest version of its wearable neurostimulator for treating essential tremor, eyeing extended use of the wrist-worn device.
