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Petah Tikva-based Discure Technologies has raised $16 million in funding to advance its novel treatment for degenerative disc disease (DDD), a common cause of chronic back pain.

The medical device startup, founded by Rainbow Medical Innovations in Herzliya, recently secured $11 million in an oversubscribed Series A financing round. This follows a previous $5 million raised through a SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity) round, bringing the total equity financing to $16 million.

Unlike current treatments that only manage symptoms, Discure’s technology targets the cause of DDD. 

“Rather than starting opioid treatment and getting into the vicious cycle of opioid use, the alternative is treating with the Discure system to stop and reverse degeneration,” says CEO Yuval Mandelbaum.

The system under development by the company is a minimally invasive, implantable bioelectronic device. 

“We inject a minuscule electrode under local anesthesia into the center of the [affected] disc. This electrode allows us to actively control the negative charge inside the disc, restoring it to the same levels of a healthy disc, allowing us to control the rate of inflow of fluid and nutrients into the disc,” Mandelbaum explains.

In simple terms, the Discure implant acts like a tiny pump for the spinal disc. Healthy discs naturally pull in fluid, oxygen and nutrients when we lie down at night, and push out waste products when we move around during the day. In degenerative disc disease, this natural cycle breaks down. 

The Discure implant recreates this pumping action electrically, helping restore the disc’s health by bringing in essential nutrients and removing harmful waste products. The goal is to reverse the degenerative process and heal the damaged disc tissue and cell population.

The global significance of Discure’s work is evident in the statistics: low back pain affects around one in 13 people globally and is the leading cause of disability worldwide.

“The number of people who suffer from DDD is incredible, and so are the lengths that they will go to to rid themselves of the related pain and get back to their normal lifestyle,” Mandelbaum tells ISRAEL21c. 

“DDD robs people of so much of what life offers; if it’s picking up your kids and playing with them, or if it’s the ability to drive to work or sit at a desk.”

Discure’s approach has already garnered international recognition. In 2021, the company received Breakthrough Device Designation from the US Food and Drug Administration, which means that it could be approved and made available to the public sooner. 

Mandelbaum describes Breakthrough Device Designation as “moving from economy to business class with an airline, allowing for a faster ‘boarding’ process, from an FDA perspective.”

The company has also recently received approval to initiate first-in-human studies in Canada and Italy, which started in early October.

For Mandelbaum, the mission to revolutionize back pain treatment is personal. “I’ve been suffering from low back pain over the years, as have a few of my family members,” he shares.

This personal connection extends beyond Mandelbaum to the entire Discure team. 

“A lot of us are engineers, big data specialists, electronic engineers — all sorts — who could have just as well gone to AI companies or cyber or big data. And compensation would have been different,” he explains.

“But hearing from patients who are getting back to their normal lives, ridding themselves of pain and restoring functionality, is a far more compelling driver for us that allows us to come in every day and give it our all. That’s really what we’re aiming for.”

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