Mainstay Medical adds eighth US patent to its IP portfolio

Dublin-listed Mainstay Medical, developers of an implantable device that targets chronic lower-back pain, has added another US patent to its portfolio.

The company said the new patent, the eighth one to be issued to Mainstay, was for systems and methods for restoring muscle function to the lumbar spine.

Mainstay raised €30 million in funding in June through a placing of new shares in the business, with the money to be used to drive the commercialisation of its flagship product, ReActiv8. The neurostimulator, used to treat chronic lower-back pain, won European approval in May.

"We are proud of the continued development of the intellectual property underpinning ReActiv8, a medical device which offers a new approach to the treatment of chronic lower back pain, addressing cause and not simply symptoms," Mainstay's chief executive Peter Crosby said.

The company, which floated in Paris and Dublin in April 2014 in an initial public offering that valued it at €90 million, is headquartered in Ireland with subsidiaries operating in Ireland, the US and Australia. The group relocated here from the US in 2012 following a $20 million funding round that was led by Fountain Healthcare Partners.

In August, the company, which is still at a pre-revenue stage, reported a $13.2 million (€11.8 million) loss in 2015, down from $82.5 million a year earlier.