Vivani Medical (Nasdaq:VANI) announced today that it plans to spin off Cortigent, a division that develops brain implants.
The company wants to create two focused companies dedicated to driving current and future value in their respective therapeutic areas. Vivani aims to continue advancing its miniature GLP-1 therapeutic implants. The spin-off would enable Cortigent to continue progressing its brain implant devices to help people recover critical body functions.
Alameda, California-based Vivani said the spin would make Cortigent an independent, publicly traded company. Vivani CEO Adam Mendelsohn said in a news release that the company expects Cortigent to continue as a leader in discovering, developing and commercializing innovative therapies for vision, stroke recovery and other critical body functions that can benefit from neurostimulation technology.
“We believe that the best way to realize the full potential of Cortigent is to enable it to operate independently with a management team dedicated to advancing its proprietary neuromodulation technology and developing medical devices that address human conditions where there is significant unmet medical need,” Mendelsohn said. “Our mission at Vivani remains unchanged as we continue to leverage our proprietary NanoPortal™ implant technology and advance the development of our portfolio of miniature, subdermal GLP-1 implants with once or twice-yearly dosing for chronic weight management, type 2 diabetes, and other chronic diseases.”
Jonathan Adams, Cortigent’s CEO, will remain in that post after the spinoff.
“Today’s announcement is a major milestone for Cortigent,” said Adams. “As an independent company, we will intensify our efforts to develop and commercialize life-changing medical devices for people with critical unmet medical needs such as blindness, paralysis due to stroke, and potentially other conditions.”
More about the planned spin-off of Cortigent by Vivani
Vivani previously submitted a Form S-1 to support an IPO for Cortigent. It revised its strategy to submit a Form 10 registration to enable the spin-off. The company said this approach enables Vivani shareholders to participate directly in Cortigent’s future. Meanwhile, it allows Vivani to focus exclusively on developing NanoPortal drug implants.
The Vivani NanoPortal technology steadily delivers medication over extended periods of time.
The company aims to guarantee correct patient doses while avoiding potential safety concerns around fluctuating drug release profiles. It can also deliver large hydrophilic molecules, including peptides and proteins. The company believes this enables a broader range of therapeutic applications. At the end of 2024, Vivani initiated screening and enrollment for a first-in-human trial of its NanoPortal-based GLP-1 implant.
The company believes that the recently heightened interest in neurostimulation and brain-computer interface (BCI) technologies should provide a boost as it spins off Cortigent, delivering value to shareholders.
Cortigent’s technology includes neurostimulation that uses an implanted micro-electrode array on the brain cortex to deliver finely tuned electrical pulses to neuron bundles. Its next-generation platform is designed to treat blindness due to glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy and other common causes. The company also has its core neurostimulation technology leveraged for indications like recovering arm and hand motion in paralysis due to stroke.
Vivani expects to complete the spin-off during or before the third quarter of 2025.
