SORIN Acquires UCL Spin-off NeuroTECH

LOUVAIN-LA-NEUVE, Belgium, November 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

SORIN, a global medical device company and a leader in the treatment of cardiovascular , has acquired  NeuroTECH ,  a spin-off of  Université catholique de Louvain    (UCL).

Established in the end of nineties, NeuroTECH was co-founded by M. Troosters and three members of UCL (Prof. C. Trullemans, Prof Cl. Veraart and Dr. J. Delbeke). During the first years of the company, the spin-off of two laboratories (Neural Rehabilitation Engineering and Microelectronics Laboratory) assisted in the development of a visual prosthesis in the frame of European grants. A world premiere took place in 1998, with the implantation of an optic nerve visual prosthesis at the Cliniques universitaires St-Luc, Brussels.

In 2002, the company identified a new application for the treatment of refractory epilepsy. A novel implantable vagus nerve stimulation system was developed. ADNS-300, CE marked, is able not only to stimulate but also to record compound action potentials from the vagus nerve, using this information to potentially personalize the therapy and provide an improved outcome. Chronic recording of the compound action potentials of the vagus nerve has been another world premiere for Neurotech, which it achieved in collaboration with the University of Gent's department of Epileptology of Prof. P. Boon. Other prototypes were also developed by NeuroTECH to evaluate the use of neurostimulation to treat either refractory obstructive sleep apnea, or movement disorders respectively.

Since its inception, SOPARTEC, a wholly owned subsidiary of UCL and manager of VIVES Louvain Technology Funds was one of the co-founders and an early investor in the company. From 2005 onwards, the company was funded by VIVES I and SRIW.

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