News Release

Stevens and Connecticut Innovations agree to investment of $500,000 in SPOC Inc.

Biomedical pain-source detector seen as potentially revolutionary

Business Announcement

Stevens Institute of Technology

HOBOKEN, N.J. -- Stevens Institute of Technology and Connecticut Innovations (CI), the state’s quasi-public authority responsible for technology investing and innovation development, today announced that they had completed an agreement for a seed-stage investment of $500,000 in Stevens Proof of Concept Inc. (SPOC), a Technogenesis® Company founded at Stevens Institute of Technology. CI made this investment through its Connecticut BioSeed Fund.

SPOC was formed in July 2005 at Stevens by Vice President Helena S. Wisniewski in the Office of University Research and Enterprise Development, along with Dr. Norman Marcus, a leader in pain management, and a team of Stevens undergraduate students in biomedical engineering. SPOC has developed a proprietary point-of-care medical diagnostic system, consisting of a medical device and methodology that pinpoint the specific myofascial (muscle) trigger points causing pain. The patent pending device is the first use of electroneural stimulation for diagnostic purposes.

SPOC’s diagnostic system will benefit patients by helping to eliminate treatments that prove to be ineffective, such as surgical procedures, and by allowing physicians to locate and treat more effectively muscles that generate pain.

Since approximately 100 million people in the United States suffer from chronic pain and approximately 80 percent of Americans suffer from some form of pain in their lifetime, the potential market for such a system is enormous.

"SPOC’s diagnostic device is disruptive – it will revolutionize neck and back pain diagnosis and treatment practices," said Dr. Wisniewski, who launched SPOC and serves as a member of the board. Wisniewski added, "We are very pleased to enter into a relationship with CI, an organization committed to commercializing technologies for the public good, which is aligned with Stevens’ Technogenesis paradigm."

SPOC’s CEO, Dr. Vikki Hazelwood, said, "The entrepreneurial environment within Stevens has fostered a very successful collaboration between Stevens’ Biomedical Engineers and Dr. Marcus. Now, with the financial support from CI, I am confident that we have extremely solid footing upon which we can commercialize the product."

"We are very excited to be investing in a company that has developed a tool that allows for a revolution in the accuracy and precision of muscle pain diagnosis," said Peter Longo, executive vice president and chief investment officer of Connecticut Innovations. "And we are delighted that the management of SPOC, whose technology was developed at the Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey, has decided to locate the company in Connecticut." Longo added, "We hope that SPOC’s diagnostic tool will become as common as the stethoscope and that all doctors will carry one in their pocket."

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About Connecticut Innovations Inc.

Connecticut Innovations (CI) is a quasi-public organization dedicated to driving a vibrant, entrepreneurial, technology-based economy in Connecticut. CI stimulates high-tech growth by investing in: early-stage Connecticut technology companies; university/industry research collaborations; technology transfer; and, clean energy initiatives through the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund. CI also fosters collaboration among government, business, nonprofit and academic organizations to advance technology growth and promotes public policies consistent with CI’s mission. For more information on CI, please visit www.ctinnovations.com.

About SPOC

SPOC is a provider of a revolutionary diagnostic medical device that identifies the specific myofacial (muscle) trigger points often overlooked by conventional diagnosis which can cause neck and back pain. This patent pending device together with the patented clinical methodology developed by Dr. Norman Marcus, SPOC’s Chief Medical Officer and a leader in pain management, provide a complete diagnostic package for accurate and precise identification of muscle pain. Physicians using SPOC’s product may be able to cure chronic neck and back pain for people who have pursued other treatments, such as surgery, with unsatisfactory results. SPOC was formed in July 2005 by Stevens’ undergraduate students in biomedical engineering, Dr. Marcus, and the Stevens Office of University Research & Enterprise Development, as a Technogenesis start up company at Stevens Institute of Technology. For additional information please contact pberzins@stevens.edu.

About Stevens Institute of Technology

Founded in 1870, Stevens Institute of Technology is one of the leading technological universities in the world dedicated to learning and research. Through its broad-based curricula, nurturing of creative inventiveness, and cross disciplinary research, the Institute is at the forefront of global challenges in engineering, science, and technology management. Partnerships and collaboration between, and among, business, industry, government and other universities contribute to the enriched environment of the Institute. A new model for technology commercialization in academe, known as Technogenesis®, involves external partners in launching business enterprises to create broad opportunities and shared value. Stevens offers baccalaureates, master’s and doctoral degrees in engineering, science, computer science and management, in addition to a baccalaureate degree in the humanities and liberal arts, and in business and technology. The university has a total enrollment of 1,850 undergraduate and 2,980 graduate students, and a worldwide online enrollment of 2,250, with a full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty of 140 and more than 200 full-time special faculty. Stevens’ graduate programs have attracted international participation from China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America. Additional information may be obtained from its web page at www.stevens.edu. For the latest news about Stevens, please visit www.StevensNewsService.com.


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