From pain to gain: EPO grants PainChek patent in 20 European nations

Medical device company PainChek (ASX: PCK), developer of a smartphone-based pain assessment and monitoring application, has been granted a patent in 20 European nations by the European Patent Office (EPO). 

The patent application is titled “A Pain Assessment Method and System” and allows PainChek to safeguard the intellectual property of its pain assessment and monitoring technology within the European market. The regions include Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. 

CEO of PainChek, Philip Daffas, commented, “The granting of this European patent is a pivotal achievement for PainChek as it solidifies our position in one of the world’s largest healthcare markets, including the UK which is a particularly important growth region for the company. This protection enhances our ability to deliver innovative pain assessment solutions to a broader audience, ensuring better pain assessment and management for individuals in need.”

The PainChek app, available on smartphones and tablets, combines PainChek’s AI pain assessment tool with the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS). This hybrid functionality allows accurate, consistent pain assessment at the point of care, complemented by PainChek’s detailed reporting suite, PainChek Analytics.

PainChek supports pain assessment and management for adults worldwide living with dementia, disability, or other conditions impacting their ability to self-report pain. Building on the effectiveness of this technology, its new iteration—the clinically validated PainChek Infant app—identifies and detects six facial action units indicative of pain in infants aged one month to 12 months.

Globally, PainChek has regulatory clearance as a medical device in Australia, Canada, the European Union, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, and the United Kingdom, with FDA review in the United States currently in progress.

In Q3 FY24, PainChek reported 90,000 contracted licences with an annual recurring revenue (ARR) of $4.3 million once fully implemented, this marks a 5% increase in licences on the prior quarter and a 40% increase on the prior year. In the UK, contracted licences reached 30,000, a 21% increase on the prior quarter. Moreover, its UK reseller contract with Nourish kicked off with initial sales completed. In the quarter, PainCheck completed a $5 million capital raise. 

The recognised revenue from customers was $652,000 (unaudited) for the quarter and year to date, a 1% decrease over the previous quarter and a 15% increase over the March 2023 quarter. The flat quarter-on-quarter follows customer cancellations which are being replaced in Q4 by the new implementations.

The global PainChek utilitisation continues to grow, with over 5,000,000 cumulative PainChek clinical assessments conducted as of 31 March 2024, an increase of 128% over the previous year and 22% over the prior quarter. This reflects continued growth in clinical use and implementation progress.

The new European patent protections for the above regions are until 2035.