The ninth annual Bioelectronic Medicine Forum takes place on April 14 at the New York Academy of Medicine, with Michel Maharbiz — co-inventor of neural dust and CEO of iota Biosciences — delivering the keynote. The one-day conference arrives three weeks after the BCI sector closed its strongest quarter on record, with over $960 million raised in Q1 2026, and at a moment when FDA breakthrough designations, international clinical expansion, and the first peer-reviewed results from multiple implanted devices are reshaping the investment case for the field.
Maharbiz’s presence at the podium is itself a marker of how bioelectronic medicine has matured. He developed the neural dust concept at UC Berkeley — ultrasonic-powered implants small enough to be distributed through neural tissue rather than concentrated on a single array — and co-founded iota Biosciences to commercialise the technology. Astellas, the Japanese pharmaceutical company, acquired iota in 2021 for a sum reported at several hundred million dollars, one of the largest exits in the neurotech space at that time. Maharbiz remains CEO and holds an adjunct professorship at Berkeley.
The programme
The forum’s panels cover ground that reflects the sector’s current preoccupations. A venture capital session features Jeff Chu of Features Capital, Allan Gobbs of ATEM Capital, and Jeffrey Scott Cohen of Ladenburg Thalmann, with discussion expected to address the disconnect between the pace of clinical progress and the still-limited number of institutional investors willing to commit to devices that face multi-year regulatory timelines. A separate panel on reimbursement tackles the commercial question that sits behind every BCI company’s financial model: who pays, and how much, once the devices reach market.
Presenting companies include Coherence Neuro and Graphenicalab from Europe, alongside US startup Spiro Medical. Jennifer French, executive director of the Neurotech Network, will join Neurotech Reports editor James Cavuoto for a fireside chat on the bioelectronic medicine industry’s development. Cavuoto’s team, which also publishes the Neurotech Business Report, is moderating the full programme alongside Jeremy Koff, Victor Pikov, and JoJo Platt. Platinum sponsorship comes from Cirtec Medical, a contract manufacturer that supplies components to several implantable neurostimulation companies.
Investment context
The forum’s timing is notable. The BCI sector’s record first quarter included Merge Labs’ $252 million raise for an ultrasound-based interface, alongside continued capital flows into Synchron, Neuralink, and Precision Neuroscience. On the regulatory front, CorTec received FDA Breakthrough Device Designation for stroke rehabilitation in the past week, Paradromics is actively enrolling patients for its Connexus speech-restoration trial, and Neuralink has expanded to three countries with twenty implants completed. The question the forum’s panellists face is whether the investment pace can continue as the field moves from proof-of-concept implantations to the more expensive and operationally complex phase of powered clinical trials, manufacturing scale-up, and reimbursement negotiations.
The conference is produced by Neurotech Reports and draws an audience of researchers, clinicians, device engineers, and investors. Registration details are available through Neurotech Reports at 415-546-1259.