Manus Raises £1.2M to Launch NeuroMotor Pen, Tool for Early Diagnosis

Manus Neurodynamica, a medical technology company, has raised £1.2 million ($1.6 million) to launch NeuroMotor, a digital pen with a patented sensor technology that can help diagnose patients with Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders.

This financing round will allow the NeuroMotor Pen to be launched in the U.K. and Europe later this year, while the company works toward potential regulatory approval in the U.S.

“We can finally look forward to seeing our NeuroMotor Pens implemented more broadly and making a real difference to the lives of people living with Parkinson’s and other neurological conditions,” Rutger Zietsma, PhD, CEO of Manus Neurodynamica, said in a press release.

The NeuroMotor Pen is a patented medical device that combines sensor technologies linked with software that can record and analyze limb and hand movements quickly and non-invasively.

The pen is connected to a tablet, on which patients are asked to complete several handwriting and drawing tasks. Abnormalities in these movements are detected, allowing clinicians to assess fine motor skills and the device to use the findings as “digital biomarkers” of movement difficulties.

The product was developed by Manus scientists, led by Zietsma, over the past 10 years. Its applications range from diagnosis and screening to monitoring, rehabilitation, and drug development for several movement disorders, but notably Parkinson’s.

“Through faster and simpler diagnoses and objective patient monitoring with digital record keeping, we can help streamline the pathway and deliver more successful treatment outcomes,” Zietsma said.

The new financing round included the North East Innovation Fund, with support from the European Regional Development Fund, managed by Northstar Ventures, and Old College Capital, the venture fund of the University of Edinburgh, as well as profit with purpose investor SIS Ventures.

“Having originally been involved with the company via a previous investment used to develop the initial prototype, we’ve been impressed with the team’s enhanced mission and are delighted to support the Company further,” said Rick Charnley, investment manager at Northstar Ventures.

The funding for the NeuroMotor Pen’s development now totals £5 million ($6.8 million). That includes an earlier financing round of £750,000 ($1 million), which was concluded last year and led by Par Equity with the support of the Scottish Investment Bank and the Old College Capital.

Manus last year secured a five-year contract with Stabilo, a stationery brand that will manufacture the pens in Germany.

Notably, after signing a contract with the U.K.’s National Health Service (NHS), Manus is currently negotiating with a leading UK-based primary care group to develop a version of the pen that could be used in surgeries.

The NeuroMotor Pen already is being used by the Northumbria NHS Foundation Trust after passing clinical trials with the NHS in England and Scotland.