The Neuromod Prize, a $9.8 million competition to accelerate the development of targeted neuromodulation therapies, has announced two Phase 3 winners. The competition aimed to advance neuromodulation solutions and brought them much closer to having tangible patient impact, offering new hope to the millions of patients battling chronic or acute diseases.
The prize did not just emphasize cutting-edge science, but also practicality — challenging teams to think beyond the lab, and to design solutions that could make their way into clinical use. This bold competition wanted innovation as well as translation, getting therapies into the hands of patients who need them. The Phase 3 teams demonstrated not only scientific brilliance but also the determination and creativity needed to advance neuromodulation therapies toward real-world impact.
On October 20, the Neuromod Prize announced the Phase 3 winners during a finalist showcase at HLTH 2025. Phase 3 teams presented their solutions to an audience of health tech leaders, innovators, and investors.
Congratulations to the Phase 3 winners:
- First-place winner University of Pittsburgh Department of Urology will receive $3 million. This team created a multichannel implantable device for sacral-pudendal neuromodulation that addresses bladder, bowel, and sexual disorders.
- Second-place winner Juniper Biomedical (formerly RBI Medical) will receive $1.6 million. This team developed a highly precise, micro-implantable neuromodulation to treat stress urinary incontinence, overactive bladder, and fecal incontinence.
The winning teams’ devices can be adjusted for individualized treatment, have limited or no side effects, and are now ready to be considered for approval in clinical use.
The Neuromod Prize is a SPARC initiative from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). SPARC — Stimulating Peripheral Activity to Relieve Conditions — is an NIH Common Fund program that’s advancing the science of neuromodulation. SPARC’s mission is to catalyze the development of next-generation therapies that target the peripheral nervous system, and to bring together innovators from across disciplines to translate discoveries into treatments that improve patients’ lives.
Building on that mission, the Neuromod Prize challenged teams to think critically and creatively about their solutions with the patient and clinical use in mind. Proposed solutions needed to be tunable, accurate, and precise, and to demonstrate an ability to quantitatively assess and control multiple on-target and related off-target effects.
In 2022, 45 participants submitted concept papers to Phase 1 of the competition, describing their proposed therapeutic approaches and plans for conducting proof-of-concept studies, rationale for therapeutic use, and potential clinical impact. Eight Phase 1 winners received $100,000 each and advanced to Phase 2, building on their submissions by conducting proof-of-concept studies. In 2024, four Phase 2 winners received $1 million each and were invited to Phase 3, where they conducted Investigational Device Exemption (IDE)-enabling studies using diverse approaches to stimulate a range of targets, including the spinal, sacral, pelvic, and vagus nerves. The $5 million Phase 3 awarded $400,000 in interim prizes, and also offered technical assistance and additional resources to help teams accelerate and develop their solutions.