Homepage Data61 newsroom

NICTA start-up Saluda Medical secures $5M from NSW Govt

Announcement posted by Data61 22 Jul 2013

Nicta _vert

Media Release

22 July 2013

NICTA start-up Saluda Medical secures $5M from NSW Govt

NICTA start-up company Saluda Medical has been awarded $5M by the New South Wales Government to support the development of unique technology which promises to vastly improve the way chronic pain is managed.

Current chronic pain management often relies on medication, which taken over the long-term may risk side-effects or addiction. When medication is no longer effective, pain relief can be achieved by electrical stimulation of the patient’s spinal cord. This stimulation, however, is often accompanied by uncomfortable side effects. NICTA researchers developed a sophisticated new technology that is set to provide improved pain relief to these patients by reducing these side effects. It does this by measuring nerve responses to electrical stimulation and uses this information to automatically adjust the stimulation to a level that is comfortable for the patient. The stimulation is delivered via a minimally-invasive spinal implant.

Saluda was spun out of NICTA – Australia’s largest publicly-funded information and communications technology research organisation – earlier this year after successfully raising an initial $5M in private investment.

The new $5M grant comes from the inaugural round of the NSW Government’s Medical Devices Fund (MDF), a competitive technology development and commercialisation program funded by the NSW Government through the NSW Ministry of Health. The key objective of the MDF is to promote new and innovative medical technologies within NSW that may have a global benefit. http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/ohmr/mdf/pages/default.aspx.

Dr John Parker, CEO of Saluda, said that the pain management research he and his team have conducted at NICTA has received worldwide attention. “Saluda’s goal is to bring this research to commercial reality and see our technology used in every neuromodulation application in the future. This will benefit potentially millions of people suffering chronic pain and other neuropathic diseases. The valuable support and recognition from the New South Wales Government allows us to begin this commercialisation journey with confidence,” he said.

Hugh Durrant-Whyte, CEO of NICTA, believes Saluda is poised to become one of Australia’s most successful medical start-up companies.  “NICTA was the crucible for this ground-breaking, early-stage research.  I believe there is a great potential for wealth creation for Australia through the development of this patented technology. We are grateful to the NSW Government for recognising the opportunity for this State,” he said.

About NICTA

NICTA (National ICT Australia Ltd) is Australia’s Information and Communications Technology Research Centre of Excellence. NICTA develops technologies that generate economic, social and environmental benefits for Australia. NICTA collaborates with industry on joint projects, creates new companies, and provides new talent to the ICT sector through a NICTA-enhanced PhD program. With five laboratories around Australia and over 700 people, NICTA is the largest organisation in Australia dedicated to ICT research.

NICTA is funded by the Australian Government through the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy and the Australian Research Council through the ICT Centre of Excellence Program. NICTA is also funded and supported by the Australian Capital Territory, the New South Wales, Queensland and Victorian Governments, the Australian National University, the University of New South Wales, the University of Melbourne, the University of Queensland, the University of Sydney, Griffith University, Queensland University of Technology and Monash University.

For further information:

Dorothy Kennedy

Communications Specialist, NICTA

Ph: 02 9376 2098 or 0488 229 687