GSK Venture Fund Selects Neurostim Device Maker SetPoint Medical As First Investment

27 Sep 2013

A $50 million venture fund set up by pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline has chosen vagus nerve stimulation device start-up SetPoint Medical, a company currently focused on treatments for autoimmune diseases, as its first investment. The move highlights the growing importance of device-mediated therapies for a wide range of common, chronic conditions.

In a concerted effort to capitalize on the red-hot global opportunity for neuromodulation therapy, used to treat patients with chronic pain and other debilitating conditions, Action Potential Venture Capital (APVC) Ltd., a new $50 million strategic venture capital fund from pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK), has chosen as its first investment neuromodulation device company SetPoint Medical Corp. of Valencia, CA, which will receive $5 million from the APVC fund.

The investment is unique in that it brings a major pharmaceutical market player into the neuromodulation device field, and it...