NeuroPace, a US-based, epilepsy-focused medical device manufacturer backed by pharmaceutical firm Johnson & Johnson, raised $74m on Tuesday in a round co-led by investment firms KCK Group and Orbimed Advisors.
Founded in 1997, NeuroPace has developed an implantable, neurostimulation system that reduces the frequency of seizures. Some 3.4 million Americans suffer from epilepsy, according to health protection agency Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
The device, NeuroPace RNS, has received regulatory approval in the US for patients suffering from partial onset seizures difficult to control with drugs. The cash will support the accelerated commercialisation of NeuroPace RNS, which has so far been implanted in 1,300 patients.
NeuroPace had previously received a total of approximately $180m in funding, according to the Silicon Valley Business Journal.
The company most recently secured $18m in 2013, according to a securities filing. The company had sought a $50m close for that round but has provided no further updates.
Brad Vale, then head of venture investments at Johnson & Johnson’s investment arm Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, was listed as a NeuroPace board member in a 2011 regulatory filing, though the unit’s precise involvement could not be ascertained.
The company’s investors also include Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, Interwest Partners, Domain Associates, MedVenture Associates, New Enterprise Associates, DAG Ventures and Glynn Capital Management.