We’re building innovative therapies that profoundly impact people’s lives.

Kate Rosenbluth, while in neuroscience and neurosurgery at UCSF (Bankiewicz lab), starts working in gene therapy and Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) for Parkinson’s disease. Her curiosity poses the question – can we treat Parkinson’s disease and others without use of a virus or implants?

Kate spends time in Stanford Hospitals and Clinics (as a Biodesign fellow) observing patients, physicians, surgeons and nurses. These observations reveal the size and burden of the unmet need in Essential Tremor (ET).

Kate and Scott Delp co-found Cala Health and raise Series A funding to treat movement disorders with biologic signatures matched to each patient’s unique tremor signature

Cala completes ET-03, a multi-center, randomized, controlled trial to assess the safety and effectiveness of Cala TAPS to aid in the symptomatic relief of hand tremors in adult essential tremor subjects.

[April] Cala One therapy receives de novo clearance by the FDA for temporary relief of hand tremors in adults with ET. Cala brings on additional strategic investors (GSK in APVC; Qualcomm in APVC; Google in GV)

[March] Cala licenses technology from Partners Healthcare Innovation and its affiliate, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) to enhance the company’s non-invasive neuromodulation platform for investigating and treating chronic diseases.

[December] Cala completes the PROSPECT study: Prospective Study for Symptomatic Relief of Essential Tremor with Cala Therapy, the largest noninvasive therapeutic clinical research study ever conducted for treatment of essential tremor. In all, the study collected data from 263 patients across 26 sites using the therapy for 3 months. The study demonstrated that Cala TAPS therapy, repeatedly used at home over three months, resulted in safe and effective hand tremor reduction and improved quality-of-life for adults with ET.

[October] Cala Health receives FDA Breakthrough Device Designation for Cala TAPS therapy to treat action tremors in Parkinson’s disease.

[April] CMS creates unique HCPCS codes for Cala TAPS therapy (K1018 for the stimulator and K1019 for the band supply) facilitating a path to healthcare claims processing for TAPS therapy.

Cala brings on another strategic investor, its first healthcare system – Ascension Health Ventures.

[June] The International Tremor Foundation (IETF) publishes essential tremor treatment guidelines and includes Cala Trio, recommending the device as a new, non-pharmacological / non-surgical therapeutic option for patients with ET.

[March] Cala moves to a new home in San Mateo, 15 miles from Stanford University and 20 miles from San Francisco.

[September] Publication of the first retrospective, long-term real world evidence of TAPS in the Journal of Tremor and Other Hyperkinetic Movements. These data further validate that TAPS improves patient quality of life, reduces tremor with no loss of effect over time with some patients able to reduce or eliminate ET medications for those living with ET.

[April] The next generation device to deliver TAPS therapy, Cala kIQ, is introduced at the American Academy of Neurology meeting. kIQ is indicated for treatment of active hand tremor in patients diagnosed with ET and Parkinson’s disease.

Cala is powering the age of bioelectronic medicine and propelling a paradigm shift in healthcare. The combination of our unique approach and the multitude of applications of TAPS provide opportunities to make a difference in the lives of people living with many different diseases, both now and in the future. This is just the beginning of our story.