In the first pact, signed at the end of June with Neuroloop, a Freiburg, Germany-based early stage start-up of medical technology group B. Braun, Merck and its partner will evaluate the feasibility of neurostimulators for targeted treatment of chronic diseases in indications with high unmet medical needs.  Initial data are expected by the end of 2022.

The partners hope to develop a neurostimulator device that can complement the existing drug therapies of patients with chronic inflammatory diseases. While drug therapies often have broad systemic effects, bioelectronic devices can create localized and specific therapeutic effects by selectively stimulating nerves, Merck says.

Neuroloop brings to the partnership its technical expertise in selective neurostimulators, and Merck will add its key capabilities in material science and in vivo pharmacology as well as quality, regulatory and clinical expertise in the field of chronic inflammatory diseases.

When the exploration phase is complete, the data will be used to evaluate a clinical strategy to prove the safety and efficacy in patients, and the companies will target approval of the device in major markets, such as the EU and US.

According to Merck, bioelectronics devices show great promise in helping therapeutic outcomes. By combining expertise across electronics, medicines and drug delivery with the neurostimulation, the partners aim to create novel modalities to enhance the quality of care for patients in several chronic diseases, said the Darmstadt-based group’s CEO, Belén Garijo.

 In the second collaboration, Merck and Barcelona- Spain-based Innervia Bioelectronics, a start- up of Inbrain Neuroelectronics, will be looking to develop the next generation of graphene-based bioelectronics vagus nerve therapies targeting severe chronic diseases within the therapeutic areas addressed by Merck.

With its bioelectronics research facilities, Merck says it 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 developing 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.

Author: Dede Williams, Freelance Journalist