WORCESTER, Mass. — Juniper Biomedical, a medical device company developing neuromodulation-based treatments for pelvic health disorders, said it has won Phase 3 of the National Institutes of Health SPARC Neuromod Prize, securing a $1.6 million cash award, and announced the addition of medtech veteran Frank Fischer to its Board of Directors.
The Phase 3 award brings Juniper’s total funding from the Neuromod Prize program to $2.7 million, following earlier wins in Phase 1 and Phase 2. The funds will support continued product development and clinical trials of the company’s first therapy, a long-term precision treatment for mixed urinary incontinence, a condition that affects nearly one in four women.
Mixed urinary incontinence combines stress urinary incontinence and urge urinary incontinence. Juniper said there is currently no advanced therapy on the market that effectively addresses both conditions simultaneously.
Alongside the funding announcement, the company said Frank Fischer, founder and chairman of Neuropace and a long-time medical device executive, has joined Juniper’s Board of Directors.
“We are honored to welcome Frank Fischer to our Board of Directors,” said David Constantine, co-founder and chief executive officer of Juniper Biomedical. “Frank’s extensive leadership experience and successful track record creating new medical device categories in cardiology and neurology will be invaluable to Juniper as we pioneer innovative neuromodulation therapies for pelvic health disorders. The Neuromod Prize has been a profound accelerant to the core translational effort required to bring Juniper’s innovation to the millions of patients suffering with inadequate solutions. Receiving this Phase 3 final award is a tremendous honor and a testament to the work of our deeply committed team.”
Fischer has served as chairman of the board of Neuropace since 2019 and previously held the roles of president and chief executive officer from 2000 through July 2019. Earlier in his career, he was president and chief executive officer of Heartport Inc. from 1998 to 1999 and served on its board of directors from 1992 to 1999. He also led Ventritex Inc., a company that pioneered implantable cardiac defibrillators, as president and chief executive officer before it was acquired by St. Jude Medical in 1997.
“I’m pleased to join Juniper Biomedical’s Board of Directors,” Fischer said. “I’m impressed by the executive team and the company’s technology platform and am confident that Juniper has what it takes to bring to market its game-changing precision neuromodulation technology to address the unmet need for less invasive, effective, and safe therapies for pelvic health disorders.”
The Neuromod Prize is part of the NIH’s SPARC initiative, a Common Fund program focused on advancing the science of neuromodulation. The program aims to accelerate the development of next-generation therapies targeting the peripheral nervous system and to translate scientific discoveries into treatments that improve patient care.
