WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.542 --> 00:00:02.002 Michael, Howard, welcome. Michael, to you first. 2 00:00:02.002 --> 00:00:04.713 Just talk to me, if you would, about the role and the work that 3 00:00:04.713 --> 00:00:05.505 Precision is doing. 4 00:00:05.839 --> 00:00:09.634 Yeah, so Precision Neuroscience is developing a brain computer 5 00:00:09.634 --> 00:00:10.218 interface. 6 00:00:10.635 --> 00:00:15.432 A brain computer interface is an implantable device that allows 7 00:00:15.432 --> 00:00:19.019 people to control computers with thought alone. 8 00:00:19.436 --> 00:00:23.565 So, you know, actually the first one of these was implanted 20 9 00:00:23.565 --> 00:00:27.777 years ago and people have been able to send text messages, send 10 00:00:27.777 --> 00:00:31.907 emails, browse the Internet, do online banking, all using only 11 00:00:31.907 --> 00:00:32.699 their minds. 12 00:00:33.033 --> 00:00:36.828 But over the course of the past 20 years, fewer than 60 people 13 00:00:36.828 --> 00:00:40.123 have had the opportunity to benefit from this sort of 14 00:00:40.123 --> 00:00:40.791 technology. 15 00:00:40.791 --> 00:00:44.544 And we are part of a movement of companies that are taking 16 00:00:44.544 --> 00:00:48.256 something that has worked in kind of academic settings in 17 00:00:48.256 --> 00:00:51.802 academic laboratories, commercializing it, and scaling 18 00:00:51.802 --> 00:00:55.430 it to the many millions of people who could benefit from 19 00:00:55.430 --> 00:00:56.974 this sort of technology. 20 00:00:57.307 --> 00:01:00.269 Wow. Howard, what role are investment firms playing in 21 00:01:00.269 --> 00:01:02.729 advancing innovative technologies like this? 22 00:01:03.438 --> 00:01:06.775 Well, investment firms are the ones who are able to fund these 23 00:01:06.775 --> 00:01:10.154 things and give them the several years worth of runway they need 24 00:01:10.154 --> 00:01:13.198 to go from the idea to the prototype and then later on to 25 00:01:13.198 --> 00:01:13.907 FDA approval. 26 00:01:14.241 --> 00:01:17.578 So we can actually put these in people with a regularity and 27 00:01:17.578 --> 00:01:21.123 safety and so on. And that takes bolder investors that then, you 28 00:01:21.123 --> 00:01:24.626 know, they're not ready for the public markets yet, they're too 29 00:01:24.626 --> 00:01:24.918 risky. 30 00:01:25.044 --> 00:01:28.005 So we we like to take on those risks, but we hope they're 31 00:01:28.005 --> 00:01:28.714 prudent risks. 32 00:01:29.256 --> 00:01:31.717 How quickly do you think this will be scalable? 33 00:01:32.134 --> 00:01:35.804 So we're we're already in clinics. So we've actually done 34 00:01:35.804 --> 00:01:39.892 14 implants so far across three different medical centers in the 35 00:01:39.892 --> 00:01:43.562 United States: West Virginia University, Penn Medicine in 36 00:01:43.562 --> 00:01:46.315 Philadelphia, and Mount Sinai in New York. 37 00:01:46.857 --> 00:01:51.153 So far, these are implants that are happening temporarily, so 38 00:01:51.153 --> 00:01:54.156 people are implanted for a matter of hours. 39 00:01:54.156 --> 00:01:57.535 That's really to establish the safety and the efficacy of our 40 00:01:57.535 --> 00:01:59.995 systems and to start training the algorithms. 41 00:02:00.287 --> 00:02:04.667 And it leads to longer term implants in coming months. First 42 00:02:04.667 --> 00:02:09.213 days, then weeks, then months, and eventually a chronic system. 43 00:02:09.255 --> 00:02:10.673 More broadly, Howard, what are you looking for? 44 00:02:10.673 --> 00:02:13.342 What key factors are you looking for when choosing where to 45 00:02:13.342 --> 00:02:13.676 invest? 46 00:02:14.218 --> 00:02:16.762 Well, we're looking for things that can both help change the 47 00:02:16.762 --> 00:02:17.638 world for the better. 48 00:02:17.847 --> 00:02:21.809 In this case, there are a lot of healthcare applications that may 49 00:02:21.809 --> 00:02:25.396 make quadriplegics be able to control their limbs and walk, 50 00:02:25.396 --> 00:02:27.607 may make ALS patients able to speak. 51 00:02:28.316 --> 00:02:30.526 And so those are the kinds of things we like to see. 52 00:02:30.526 --> 00:02:34.030 We call them the the moonshot bets, where if it works, it 53 00:02:34.030 --> 00:02:38.034 really both improves society and is becoming extremely lucrative. 54 00:02:38.826 --> 00:02:41.954 Michael, finally, what are some of the advancements that you're 55 00:02:41.954 --> 00:02:43.623 most excited about in this space? 56 00:02:43.748 --> 00:02:44.707 There must be so many. 57 00:02:45.083 --> 00:02:48.836 Well, I mean, I think, you know, as Howard mentioned, this is a 58 00:02:48.836 --> 00:02:51.714 company that is focused on making a real positive 59 00:02:51.714 --> 00:02:53.424 difference in people's lives. 60 00:02:53.424 --> 00:02:57.303 And there are many hundreds of thousands of people who, as a 61 00:02:57.303 --> 00:03:00.848 result of paralysis or degenerative diseases like ALS, 62 00:03:00.848 --> 00:03:04.227 really struggle to move and struggle to communicate. 63 00:03:04.560 --> 00:03:07.063 And I think the technology that we're developing has the 64 00:03:07.063 --> 00:03:09.691 potential to make an enormous positive difference in their 65 00:03:09.691 --> 00:03:09.941 lives. 66 00:03:10.233 --> 00:03:10.733 Fantastic. 67 00:03:10.733 --> 00:03:12.402 Michael, Howard, thank you so much for your time. 68 00:03:12.944 --> 00:03:13.236 Thank you. 69 00:03:13.444 --> 00:03:13.862 Thank you.