GSK sets up APVC Fund to invest in bio-electronic medicine

Business Agency, August 9 (GSK) today announced the establishment of the APVC Fund (Action Venture Capital), a new $50 million strategic venture capital fund that will invest in bioelectronics pharmaceuticals and technology pioneersThe fund's first investment was at SetPoint Medical, a California-based company that is believed to be a pioneer in the creation of implantable devices to treat inflammatory diseasesthe fund will complement the GSK Bioelectronics Research and Development UnitThe module was established in 2012 by GSK after two years of efforts to identify and hire the most promising researchers in this emerging fieldThe name of the fund comes from an electrical signal called action potentials that are transmitted along the body's neural networkIrregular or pattern changes in these electrical signals may be related to theof a wide range ofdiseasesGSK believes that mini-devices or bioelectronic drugs can be designed to read these patternsThese devices can be designed to interface the peripheral nervous system with specific organs to read, alter, or generate electrical impulses to help treat a variety of inflammatory bowel diseases, rheumatoid arthritis, respiratory diseases, metabolic diseases, including type 2 diabetesat present, the field of bioelectronicsmedicineis still in a very early stageBy working with scientists around the world, GSK's ambition is to submit the first regulatory applications for bioelectronic medicines that can interpret human electronic language by 2020(,