Brainsway

Brainsway Ltd.
Public
Traded as TASE: BRIN
Industry Medical technology
Founded 2003
Founder Uzi Sofer (CEO)
Avner Hagai (President)
David Zacut (Chairman)
Headquarters Jerusalem, Israel
Key people
 Avraham Zangen
Yiftach Roth
Products Deep TMS System
Subsidiaries Brainsway Inc.
Website brainsway.com

Brainsway (Hebrew: בריינסוויי‎) is an Israeli company engaged in the development of a medical device that uses H-coil for deep transcranial magnetic stimulation (Deep TMS) as a noninvasive treatment for depression and possibly other disorders.[1] The company was founded in 2003 and is based in Jerusalem, Israel.

Background

Early years

Transcranial magnetic stimulation technology, invented during the 1980s as a diagnostic tool, operates by sending an electric current through a coil, whereby an intense magnetic field is generated. When encompassing the brain, the field penetrates the cranium and stimulates nerve cells in a particular area of the brain. During the 1990s, Israeli scientists began speculating as to the potential psychiatric applications of TMS after accounts emerged of patients reporting mood improvement following exposure to TMS.

Early TMS devices, employing circular and figure-8 coils, were limited by the extent to which they could penetrate beyond the cerebral cortex: elevating the intensity of the magnetic field increased the depth of penetration but brought with it a higher risk of negative side effects, such as pain. Mark S. George of the Medical University of South Carolina likened the search for a device that could stimulate the deeper regions of the brain and still be safe for use to the quest for the Holy Grail.[2][3]

H-coil technology

In the late 1990s, Avraham Zangen, an Israeli scientist and Bar-Ilan University alumnus, was performing postdoctoral research on the brain's reward system at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH).[4]

Compared to a figure-of-eight coil no advantage with regard to depth of stimulation has been found for the H-coil.[5]

The H-coil was patented by the NIH in 2002, and the procedure whereby the H-coil was applied to TMS became known as Deep TMS.[4][6][7]

Corporate history

Brainsway was founded in 2003 by Uzi Sofer and Avner Hagai, together with David Zacut. The research serving as the company's technological platform is the H-coil Deep TMS system patented through the U.S. National Institutes of Health in 2002. The patent is exclusively licensed to Brainsway.[8][9][10]

Brainsway conducted its first clinical Deep TMS trials at Tel Aviv University in 2005.[4] In January 2013, Brainsway received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and from Health Canada to market its Deep TMS device in the United States and in Canada as a treatment for depression in cases where people failed to make a recovery following drug treatment.[11][12] Evidence to support this use is tentative as of 2013 no high quality evidence is available.[1]

In early 2007 Brainsway executed an initial public offering on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, raising ₪33 million for a market cap of ₪110 million.[13] During the year 2010 Brainsway announced plans to list shares of the company's stock on the Nasdaq exchange.[14] In May 2011 the company disclosed the terms of its planned IPO.[15] In June it withdrew its IPO proposal.[16] After winning US FDA approval for its Deep TMS device in early 2013 Brainsway's market cap surpassed ₪500 million, and in early February its market cap climbed to ₪900 million.[11][17]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Bersani, FS; Minichino, A; Enticott, PG; Mazzarini, L; Khan, N; Antonacci, G; Raccah, RN; Salviati, M; Delle Chiaie, R; Bersani, G; Fitzgerald, PB; Biondi, M (January 2013). "Deep transcranial magnetic stimulation as a treatment for psychiatric disorders: a comprehensive review.". European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists 28 (1): 30–9. doi:10.1016/j.eurpsy.2012.02.006. PMID 22559998.
  2. ↑ Rapp, David (17 February 2005). "Field of dreams". Haaretz. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  3. ↑ George, Mark S. (September 2003). "Stimulating the Brain". Scientific American. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Blackburn, Nicky (19 February 2006). "Israel's Brainsway stimulates a magnetic remedy for depression". Israel21c. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  5. ↑ Fadini T et al. (June 2009). "H-coil: Induced electric field properties and input/output curves on healthy volunteers, comparison with a standard figure-of-eight coil.". Clin Neurophysiol. Retrieved 2014-05-02. .
  6. ↑ Spronk, Desirée; Arns, Martijn; Fitzgerald, Paul B. (2011). "Chapter 10: Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Depression: Protocols, Mechanisms, and New Developments". In Coben, Robert; Evans, James R. Neurofeedback and Neuromodulation Techniques and Applications. London: Academic Press. pp. 278–279. ISBN 978-0-12-382235-2. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  7. ↑ Heller, Corinne (7 December 2006). "Scientists in Israel are reaching deeper into the minds of the clinically depressed to try to lift their spirits". Reuters. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  8. ↑ Golan, Moshe (9 January 2013). "בריינסווי קיבלה אישור FDA לשיווק הקסדה לטיפול בדיכאון בארה"ב" [Brainsway obtains FDA approval to market helmet for treatment of depression in the U.S.]. Globes (in Hebrew). Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  9. ↑ "Magnetic Stimulation Shows Promise as the New Wave for Treating Depression". NIH Office of Technology Transfer. 24 July 2007. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  10. ↑ "A Beautiful Magnetic Mind". Interface Magazine (Weizmann Institute of Science). Spring–Summer 2005. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Wainer, Davic (9 January 2013). "Brainsway Rises as U.S. Allows Depression Device: Tel Aviv Mover". Bloomberg. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  12. ↑ "Health Canada approves Brainsway depression therapy". Globes. 15 January 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  13. ↑ Weinreb, Gali (2 January 2007). "Brainsway IPO four times oversubscribed". Globes. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  14. ↑ Habib-Valdhorn, Shiri (8 August 2010). "Brainsway looks to Nasdaq offering". Globes. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  15. ↑ "Brainsway sets IPO terms". Renaissance Capital. 26 May 2011. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  16. ↑ "Brainsway withdraws IPO". Renaissance Capital. 14 June 2011. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  17. ↑ Weinreb, Gali (25 February 2013). "Brainsway mulls direct US sales". Globes. Retrieved 28 February 2013.

Further reading