Menu
Noninvasive Treatment for Spinal Disc Disease
Discogen is developing an ultrasound-based treatment of intervertebral discs to provide symptomatic relief of both low back and leg pain. Based on in vitro and in vivo studies, the Discogen system – DiscRx – is biologically active in reducing inflammation and promoting spinal disc repair processes.
This proprietary technology will be validated in a First-In-Human study beginning at Columbia University in March 2025.
If you are interested in learning more, or have patients that might benefit, please visit this Columbia RecruitMe page for further details.
Overview
Spinal disc disease affects a large and growing population in the US and in developed countries around the world. A large number of patients in the US who are not yet candidates for surgery suffer from discogenic back pain — an estimated 6 million new patients annually.
These patients are treated with a spectrum of interventions ranging from physical therapy to epidural injections to implanted spinal stimulators. However, these interventions have varying rates of success and do not have any effect on the underlying pathophysiology, which often leads to later surgery.
DiscRx is a disruptive technology that is capable of restructuring the treatment programs for discogenic pain. It will offer both symptomatic relief and also affect the disc degeneration process. It will do so at a projected cost that is substantially lower than current prescribed treatments.
Our Technology
DiscRx will promote the repair of early-stage disc disease and relieve inflammation, providing symptomatic relief of pain. DiscRx therapy will promote the tissue remodeling and repair processes that may slow the progression of spinal disc disease.
For early- to mid-stage disc degeneration patients, DiscRx may delay the time at which surgery is indicated. Delaying surgery by several years has the potential of avoiding additional surgeries as a result of adjacent level disease.
About Us
LEADERSHIP AND ADVISORY BOARD
Peter Zahos
MD, FAANS, FACS. Founder, Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Zahos is a board-certified neurosurgeon based in New York, with a focus on the surgical treatment of spinal disease, brain tumors, and deep brain stimulation (DBS), a procedure that involves the implantation of a brain pacemaker to regulate electronic impulses in the brain. He was formerly the chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at Cleveland Clinic Florida and a member of the Brain Tumor Institute and the Department of Neurosurgery at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio Dr. Zahos completed his undergraduate degree at Yale University, his medical degree at George Washington University, and his neurosurgical training at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He has served on the medical school faculties at the University of Michigan, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, and the University of California, San Francisco. He has been an author on multiple publications and patents, and has lectured in the field of neurosurgery. Dr. Zahos combines his surgical acumen and clinical reasoning to validating the scientific rational for intradiscal therapeutic strategies based on his working knowledge of the biochemical mechanisms of disc degeneration.
Jeffrey Lotz
PhD, Professor, Director, Bioengineering Lab, University of California, San Francisco
Dr. Lotz has been the Director of the Orthopaedic Bioengineering Laboratory at UCSF since 1992. Dr. Lotz earned a doctorate degree in Medical Engineering from the Harvard/MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, a Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering Design from Stanford University, and Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley. Prior work experience includes medical device design (Stanford Research Institute) and medical device failure evaluation (Failure Analysis Associates). Dr. Lotz is a Member of the NIH Peer Review Committee for Tissue Engineering Grants.
As a principal investigator, Dr. Lotz has procured over $9M in extramural funding for spine-related projects. He has earned several awards for spine research, including the ISSLS Prize (2007), Volvo Award (1998), and the North American Spine Society Award (1993). He serves as a Deputy Editor for the journal Spine, and an Associate Editor for The Spine Journal. He has expertise in spine biomechanics and intervertebral disc biology and has published 100 peer-reviewed journal articles. His laboratory work focuses on identifying mechanisms of intervertebral disc degeneration, exploring tissue engineering approaches for treating low back pain, and the biomechanics of spinal instrumentation.
Nicholas Theodore
MD, FAANS, FACS. Director, Neurosurgery Spine Program, Johns Hopkins Department of Neurosurgery
Dr. Theodore is known for his work in spinal trauma, robotics and personalized medicine. He is Director of the Neurosurgical Spine Program at Johns Hopkins and Co-Director of the Carnegie Center for Surgical Innovation. Dr. Theodore is a co-founder of Excelsius Surgical, a spinal robotics company that was acquired by Globus Medical Inc.
He graduated from Cornell University, where he was the recipient of a Cornell Tradition Academic Fellowship. He attended medical school at Georgetown University, where he graduated with honors. After completing his internship at Bethesda Naval Hospital, Dr. Theodore served as a Senior General Medical Officer with the United States Marine Corps in Okinawa, Japan. Dr. Theodore completed his neurosurgical residency and a fellowship in spinal surgery at Barrow Neurological Institute. After completing his residency in 2001, Dr. Theodore served as Chief of the Division of Neurosurgery at Naval Medical Center San Diego, overseeing the largest neurosurgery complement in the Navy.
In 2003 he joined the faculty at Barrow Neurological Institute, and assumed the position of Director of Neurotrauma. In 2004 he was appointed Associate Director of the Neurosurgery Residency Program at Barrow. Barrow’s Residency Program is the largest in the United States and is currently training four residents per academic year, for a potential total of 28 residents. His area of focus includes brain and spinal cord injury, minimally invasive surgery, and robotics. In 2010 he was appointed Director of the Barrow Neurosurgery Spine Program. In 2016 he became the second Donlin M. Long Professor of Neurosurgery & Orthopaeidcs at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Theodore also holds a professorship in the Biomedical Engineering. His area of focus includes brain and spinal cord injury, minimally invasive surgery, robotics and personalized medicine.
Chris J. Diederich
Diederich, Ph.D. Professor, Director, Thermal Therapy Research Group, University of California, San Francisco
Dr. Diederich’s clinical expertise includes treatment planning, quality assurance and delivery of hyperthermia therapy (thermal therapy) in conjunction with radiation therapy and chemotherapy. He has over 25 years of experience as a Medical Physicist in the field of Hyperthermia Therapy, with applications of ultrasound and electromagnetic systems for delivering superficial, interstitial, and deep hyperthermia. He is Director of Clinical Hyperthermia Physics at UCSF. This clinical service includes standard of care procedures, as well as scientific investigations of (1) the use of ultrasound to preferentially target ThermoDox, a thermally sensitive nanoparticle, for treatment of recurrent breast cancer, (2) catheter-based ultrasound hyperthermia in conjunction with HDR brachytherapy for the treatment of locally advanced prostate and cervix cancer, and (3) deep hyperthermia for pelvic tumors.
Dr. Diederich’s primary research activities include the design and development of ultrasound devices, support systems, and procedures for applying targeted
hyperthermia and high-temperature thermal therapy. These ultrasound devices can produce shaped heating patterns and are more controllable than other modalities, thus potentially providing more conformable heating, better response and lower complication rates; the technology has demonstrated potential for cancer therapy, treatment of non-malignant disease, and tissue structural modification. The Thermal Therapy Research Group at UCSF is concentrating efforts on developing and employing highly controllable ultrasound heating technology to these various clinical problems.
About
Discogen is a medical technology development company that designs, patents, and commercializes devices and therapeutics for the Discogenic Back Pain (DBP) market.
Discogen is a medical technology development company that designs, patents, and commercializes devices and therapeutics for the Discogenic Back Pain (DBP) market.