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Our mission
Our mission at Cyberonics is to improve the lives of people touched by epilepsy, depression and other chronic disorders that may prove to be treatable with our patented
VNS Therapy™.
VNS Therapy System
Cyberonics designs, develops and markets the Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS Therapy) System.
VNS Therapy uses a surgically implanted medical device that delivers electrical signals to the vagus nerve in the left side of the neck. This therapy has been proven effective in improving the lives of people touched by epilepsy by reducing the number and/or the intensity of seizures. To date, more than 30,000 epilepsy patients worldwide have accumulated in excess of 100,000 patient years of experience using VNS Therapy.
Our History
The idea of stimulating the vagus nerve to treat epileptic seizures was proposed by Dr. Jacob Zabara in the early 1980s. Cyberonics, Inc. was founded in 1987 to design, develop, manufacture and market implantable medical devices using VNS Therapy for the treatment of epilepsy and other debilitating neurological disorders. In November 1988, the first human was treated when a vagus stimulation device was implanted in a patient to treat his pharamacoresistant seizures. Thus began a comprehensive ten-year clinical study to evaluate the effectiveness of VNS Therapy for the treatment of pharamacoresistant seizures.
An Exclusive Franchise
VNS Therapy has the potential for use as a safe and effective treatment in other inadequately treated chronic disorders. Currently, Cyberonics holds 14 device and 22 method patents covering the VNS generator, nerve stimulation electrode and the application of a pulsed electrical signal to the vagus, hypoglossal and trigeminal nerves—for the treatment of a variety of disorders. These disorders include: epilepsy, depression, anxiety, Alzheimer’s disease, pain, eating disorders and congestive heart failure. These patents provide the Company with an exclusive VNS Therapy franchise that offers unprecedented growth potential in the medical device industry.
FDA Approval
In 1997, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved VNS for the treatment of medically refractory partial-onset seizures in patients over the age of 12. It was one of the fastest approvals of an implantable device in FDA history and the first new approach for the treatment of epilepsy in more than 100 years. The Company has also received regulatory approvals to market the system in Canada, Europe and other countries around the world.
The remarkable success of VNS Therapy in the treatment of epilepsy has served as a platform for continued innovation. After seven years of extensive study and clinical trial, the FDA approved VNS Therapy in July 2005 for the adjunctive long-term treatment of chronic or recurrent depression. The VNS Therapy system is the first FDA approved implantable device-based treatment for depression and the first treatment developed, studied, approved and labeled specifically for patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD). VNS Therapy is also at various levels of study as a potential treatment for other chronic disorders including Alzheimer’s disease, anxiety, chronic migraine headache and bulimia.
A Houston-Based Company
Cyberonics, Inc. is headquartered in Houston, Texas, and has additional offices in Brussels, Belgium. Its common stock is traded on the NASDAQ National Market System under the symbol “CYBX.”
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