26 June 2023: EASEE®, the world’s first minimally invasive brain pacemaker, presented by Angela Liedler, CEO of Heidelberg-based Precisis, has been awarded top prize in this year’s ‘Shark Tank’ competition run by the Epilepsy Foundation.

According to Prof. Jaqueline French, awarded for her lifetime achievement and Chief Medical and Innovation Officer at the Epilepsy Foundation: “The aim of the Epilepsy Foundation's Shark Tank jury is to find innovations that have the potential to reduce the burden on epilepsy patients. Every year, we review more than 50 submissions and invite the five to six most promising ones to pitch.”

Competitors pitch their innovative ideas to a panel of ‘sharks’ – epilepsy experts from both clinical and business backgrounds. This is based on the concept developed by the television programs Shark Tank and Dragons’ Den. Angela Liedler´s EASEE® brain pacemaker presentation was up against five other innovators. The purpose of the award is to recognize the idea that has the potential to relieve the most epilepsy patients of their severe disease burden. Congratulations also to the runner-up BrainCapture, who aim to provide portable EEG devices and platform to increase access to diagnostics tools for healthcare providers in underserved countries

“I am a lawyer and suffer from epilepsy myself. I personally advocate for this disease to lose its stigma”, commented Elizabeth Corbett, who is a board member of the Epilepsy Foundation. “There are now many treatments available so that patients no longer feel they have to hide. EASEE® has the potential to significantly help patients with severe cases of the disease.”

“I am highly grateful to have gotten the chance to present our innovation EASEE®”, added Angela Liedler. “The prize money will go directly towards gaining FDA approval. EASEE® is currently only available in Europe, where we have achieved impressive results in clinical trials, and we now want to make this new technology available to US patients as well”. After receiving an FDA Break-through Device Designation preparations for a US clinical study are well underway. With about 1% of the adult population suffering from epilepsy and 30% not being sufficiently treated with medication alone, EASEE® can offer an alternative treatment approach to reduce the burden of the patients themselves, as well as their caregivers.

EASEE® is an acronym for Epicranial Application of Stimulation Electrodes for Epilepsy. It is a system for individualized brain stimulation, which is surgically placed under the scalp, precisely over the origin of the epilepsy in the brain. This means that the cranial bone is not opened, and the brain itself remains untouched. EASEE® is based on a dual mode of action: a disruptive, acute effect with high-frequency pulses every two minutes, to combat emerging seizures; and a continual current applied once a day for 20 minutes that regulates over-excitable brain areas in the long term.

EASEE® is the first commercial product to be developed by Heidelberg-based Precisis, a company which specialises in the development of device-controlled therapies for the brain. EASEE® was awarded its CE Mark in September 2022, the permission to enter European markets.

In October 2022 Precisis was among only 78 high-profile start-ups and SMEs in Germany, from a total of 1,000 entries, to be selected for a highly competitive grant from the European Innovation Council (EIC).

In February 2023 Precisis was voted one of the top 100 medium-sized companies in Germany by the prestigious Top 100 Group, on the basis of its specific innovatory strength and above-average innovation success. The innovation shown must have been demonstrated to routinely follow a strategy.

The Epilepsy Foundation has been established for over 50 years and is committed to making epilepsy more visible and to supporting and networking those affected. They help to (co-)finance clinical studies, organise charity walks and offer first aid courses for relatives.

For media information, please contact:

Dr. Angela Liedler