In honor of the 50th anniversary of the moon landing, American Inno staff writers are taking a look at "moonshot" ideas in our 13 markets. Moonshots are ambitious, exploratory and groundbreaking projects with the potential to change the way we live. Click here to learn more about other moonshot companies from our other markets.
Space is not the final frontier – not if you ask University of Minnesota Associate Professor Dr. Greg Molnar.
"It's the depths of the ocean, the vastness of space and the mysteries of the brain," he believes.
Of these three unexplored terrains, Molnar is partial to the brain. He works for the university's Department of Neurology and serves as director of the Deep Brain Stimulation Research program. Since 2013, Molnar and other scientists have been working together on an ambitious program called MnDRIVE, which aims to bring new and improved therapies to Minnesotans suffering from a wide range of brain conditions.
"There's a hell of a lot of cool things coming out of MnDRIVE," Molnar told Minne Inno. "We're expanding into psychology, spinal cord treatment, sleep disorders, and more. We're very proud of the work that's coming out of our corner of Medical Alley."
Molnar has spent decades translating science into medical device therapies and has numerous patents in the space. Prior to joining MnDRIVE, he was the director of neuromodulation research at Medtronic and led the global research team to advance neuromodulation applications for pain, movement disorders and epilepsy.
Today, in addition to being a professor, Molnar also helps MnDRIVE faculty and researchers bring their ideas to market by working with local healthcare businesses and entrepreneurs. He estimates that there are currently a couple of hundred researchers within MnDRIVE.
"We're very proud of the work that's coming out of our corner of Medical Alley."
MnDRIVE is working on solutions for things like Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, sleep disorders, mental illness and even addiction – all chronic afflictions that dimish a person's quality of life. MnDRIVE estimates that one in five Americans live with some sort of debilitating brain condition. The social and economic impacts of these diseases are devastating, with annual U.S. healthcare and lost productivity costs estimated at nearly $500 billion, according to the University of Minnesota.
So how does one go about tackling the world's most serious brain conditions? Scientists and researchers at the U are using neuromodulation, the practice of adjusting the activity of certain neural circuits to decrease symptoms and improve brain function. Symptoms can be "adjusted" a number of ways, including visual distraction or electric stimulation.
Early Successes
One early successes story from the program is SynerFuse, a Minneapolis med-tech firm targeting intractable back pain. Patients can still experience pain long after successful back surgery is completed. SynerFuse estimates that 40 percent of all patients who undergo spinal-fusion surgery end up needing long-term pain-management therapy, and they often times rely too heavily on opioids for pain relief.
Incorporated in 2015, SynerFuse is developing a system that can be used during back surgery to target pain that lingers after the operation. The company's technology is meant to get ahead of the pain, using electrical impulses to alter nerve activity that causes pain.
In May, SynerFuse closed on $2.6 million to fund its first clinical trial. The company began its 20-patient trial this summer. If successful, it will undertake a larger clinical trial afterward to build the case for commercialization.
When someone damages their spinal cord, the natural balance of the nerves is disturbed or sometimes severed. This could result in a loss of mobility or troubles with other parts of the body like the heart or urinary tract.
"But there are still bits of nerve connections there," Molnar explained. "By stimulating the spinal cord, we can revive or restore some of the circuits that inadvertently shut down. And we're hoping to spin it out into a program that will help patients all around the world."
He added that similar technology is being tested in partnership with Abbott Northwestern to treat those with spinal cord injuries. MnDRIVE researchers are creating an implant that can be placed in the lower lumbar area of the back and can be used to send tiny electrical pulses to damaged nerves.
"It's important for companies, industries and Larger institutions to take big swings in supporting researchers and innovative ideas."
Yonder, an app that aims to decrease dental anxiety in young children using mixed reality, is also a product of MnDRIVE. Co-founder Adam Choe, who is also managing director of gener8tor Minnesota, began working on Yonder during his time as an MnDRIVE fellow.
Yonder creates special apps for each dentistry practice it works with, offering patients and their parents actual footage of the office they’ll visit and the dentist they’ll see. This tour is guided at a child's eye level by a cartoon hippo named Mimi.
Choe and his co-founder, Dr. Courtney Hill, spun out of the University of Minnesota's Office of Technology and Commercialization in late 2017. Today, they're working with a handful of dental practices in the Twin Cities to create special apps for patients.
Choe believes that the projects pioneered through MnDRIVE have the potential to impact Minnesota's innovation and technology scene as a whole.
"It's important for companies, industries and larger institutions to take big swings in supporting researchers and innovative ideas because the earliest stages are the highest risk but also in many cases have the highest potential return for society," Choe said in an email. "We are at an inflection point in the state of Minnesota," he added. "The more we can cross-pollinate and leverage the strengths of all the players, the faster we become an epicenter of innovation in the world."
What's Next?
The University of Minnesota's Venture Center plays a vital role in making sure technology developed by MnDRIVE and other initiatives get out of the lab and into the world. Since 2006, the center has launched more than 150 startup companies based on technology pioneered at the University of Minnesota. Today, around 78 percent of these companies are still active and have raised, in total, more than $405 million in investment capital.
"These crucial resources are applied at the earliest stages where few angels or VCs would invest," said Pam York, general partner with Minneapolis-based investment firm Capita3, in an email. "This has enabled many startups to form and go on to receive financing and the related 2019 acquisitions we've seen from UMN startups."
York added that she sees special potential in the work being done by MnDRIVE Brain Conditions.
"Given the very few treatment options for diseases or injuries that impact brain function, researchers are looking beyond drugs into other means of treatment, and initial progress with nerve stimulation make it an obvious candidate for research and commercialization," York said.
Molnar is proud and encouraged by the research MnDRIVE has done in the last six years, but believes that their work is far from done.
"We have a large aging population. Pretty soon, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other degenerative disorders will pass cancer as the leading cause of death in the elderly," Molnar said. "These are big issues to crack. But I think there's a beacon of hope with MnDRIVE and the U. They're doing their thing, so we'll be ready to tackle these conditions."
