Dublin-listed Mainstay Medical, a company targeting chronic lower back pain with an implantable device, reported a $13.2 million (€11.8 million) loss in 2015, down from $82.5 million a year earlier.

The company, which has raised more than $52 million in funding since it was established, is still at a pre-revenue stage. It said operating expenses declined from $15.1 million in 2014 to $12.9 million last year.

R&D costs

Research and development costs totalled $2.7 million, as against $2.6 million for the preceding year, while clinical and regulatory expenses totalled $4.4 million, up from $3.9 million.

Mainstay raised €30 million in funding in June through a placing of new shares in the business, with the money to be used to drive the commercialisation of its flagship product, ReActiv8. This is a neurostimulator to treat chronic lower back pain, which won European approval in May.

The company, which floated in Paris and Dublin in April 2014 in an IPO that valued it at €90 million, is headquartered in Dublin with subsidiaries operating in Ireland, the US and Australia. The group came to Ireland in 2012 from the US following a $20 million funding round that was led by Fountain Healthcare Partners.

The company, which is headed by chief executive Peter Crosby, said cash on hand at the end of last year was $16.6 million, compared with $18.3 million in 2014.

Mainstay said by the end of December it had drawn down €10.5 million of the €15.5 million debt facility it agreed last year.

The company currently employs 23 people, up from 17 a year earlier. Staff costs, including wages and salaries, rose to $5.4 million from $3.9 million.