Control Bionics lands on the App Store

Good morning, Armchair Army,

Welcome to today's edition of The Armchair Analyst, a 5-minute daily update on the ASX life-sciences sector.

I’m back!

Been bedridden for the last two days with the flu.

Apparently I wasn’t the only one from Bioshares…

Superspreader event!

Anyways… 

Feeling slightly better now. 

Particularly because my third Armchair Pick, Control Bionics (ASX: CBL), launched the NeuroStrip product on the App Store today:

Yes, I’ve downloaded it.

No, I haven’t had a chance to play around with it.

Devices are hot property, I hear. 

Every time CBL gets a new shipment of devices in from the US, they are right out the door to potential customers.

So…

Why does this news matter?

CBL has developed, over the past 20 years, a technology that reads electrical signals and lets people control devices with their minds.

The NeuroStrip is a micro-sized version of the original device that can be used to measure brain-muscle signals with incredible accuracy:

That interface in the image above?

That’s now downloadable in the app store.

As the CEO Jeremy Steele put it:

The app store move gives CBL “a far wider audience than we could reach through direct distribution alone”.

It supports clinicians, physios, researchers, and sporting organisations to use the NeuroStrip device.

Installing CBL’s software with a button click.

Much easier.

An easier-to-use product = more likely customers use it and pay for it.

Right now, over 20 organisations use the device to measure muscle intent and make decisions on injuries, rehabilitation, and performance.

(In a pilot program that launched a few months ago)

Including PSG, Hawthorn Football Club and The British Olympic Team.

BUT, looking ahead…

This move into the app store is a genuine step towards building a wearable product with a software base.

CBL already has a deal with Apple’s BCI firmware.

Meaning that its products can connect directly with Apple's firmware to control Apple devices with the technology.

Meta is trying to build this as well (with their own surface EMG technology that they bought in 2019 for up to US$1B)

Here's a demonstration on the Meta website:

There are two big wearable companies that have taken off in the last 12 months.

Oura and Whoop.

Oura, the smart ring, raised ~US$900M in October 2025 at a ~US$11 billion valuation.

Whoop, the screenless fitness band, raised US$575M in March 2026 at a US$10.1 billion valuation.

While CBL is still a while away from a consumer application.

… this is the blue sky potential for this technology.

But in the meantime, the new app makes it much easier for its existing customers to use its product, across sports and rehab.

Large market opportunities in their own right.

Let’s dive in…

Bigger Pulse Check than usual as I have to cover the last few days.

Alterity Therapeutics (ASX: ATH) secures a U.S. patent for ATH434, extending composition protection to 2045. (ATH)

🪑 Big milestone ahead of the Phase 3 trial.

ATH is the next cab off the rank in my Biotech 165 Challenge. 

Keep an eye out for it in your inboxes tomorrow.

Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals (ASX: CUV) has identified the right formulation for its controlled-release injectable peptide platform. More pre-clinical studies to come. (CUV)

🪑 Nice update. Still early days.

Pro Medicus (ASX: PME) signs a 7-year, A$23M contract with St. Luke’s Health System to implement its Visage 7 platform. (PME)

🪑 Nice deal.

AdAlta Limited (ASX:1AD) reports continued survival of all five patients in the mesothelioma study. (1AD)

🪑 Again, more good data to help 1AD finance an “Australian” version of this trial that they can run themselves.

Enlitic (ASX: ENL) has deployed its Ensight platform with Radiology Imaging Associates in Colorado. (ENL)

🪑 The big ENL recap raise is all done, votes secured and shares issued. A good base for the company to reset.

LTR Pharma (ASX: LTP) reports a 64% response in post-prostatectomy patients and 57% amongst the ‘difficult to treat group’ using its Erectile Dysfunction nasal spray. (LTP)

🪑 I’d classify this as good “anecdotal evidence”.

Particularly in those subgroups where traditional viagra didn’t work or where the person has had a post-prostatectomy.

Austco Healthcare (ASX: AHC) to acquire one of its nurse call distributors in South Australia, for $2.9M. (AHC)

🪑This continues AHC's process of vertically integrating in Australia and effectively “buy” customers through acquisition.

Nice strategy.

Imricor Medical Systems (ASX: IMR) has secured a second customer for the NorthStar iMR system, the Children's Medical Centre Dallas. (IMR)

🪑 Children's clinics are the obvious early adopters of IMR’s technology.

Using MRI instead of X-ray, is much less toxic for children.

Talius (ASX: TAL) secures an $850K order from Hato Hone St John for 4,000 Lifepod units and Emergency Personal Pendants. (TAL)

🪑 Nice deal.

Although it is heavy on the hardware sales.

ReNerve (ASX: RNV) secures marketing approval in India for its nerve repair product. (RNV)

AVITA Medical (ASX: AVH) shares up another 30% on Monday, after announcing that it had “beat” revenue guidance last Friday. 

🪑 Reason for the big bump? 

I saw a couple of broker price targets come through on Monday with some big upgrades. (Bell Potter moved from $1.20 Spec Hold to $2.10 Spec Buy).

Just goes to show broker upgrades CAN move prices.

Percheron (ASX: PER) announces a new CEO, Michael Baker. (PER, held)

🪑 This closes the loop on TWO of the boardroom battles that I’ve been following over the last 12 months.

FIRST, the saga with Arovella: When Shares Become the Vote: The 249D-ilemma 

SECOND, the saga with Percheron itself: The $12M Prize: How PER Survived Two Board Coups and Lived to Fight On 

Michael Baker was largely responsible for my first-ever biotech 10-bagger - ALA.

He helped clean up ALA (when it was the old Suda), raise some capital at 2 cents (and a $4M market cap) and build up the story all the way to 20 cents and a $200 million market cap company.

… without dosing a single patient.

I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do with Percheron; there is a bit of legacy with this one… but that’s Michael’s sweet spot.

Neurizon Therapeutics (ASX: NUZ) completes an $8.3M drawdown from its non-dilutive R&D financing facility. (NUZ)

Starpharma Holdings (ASX: SPL) successfully completes a $32 million Entitlement Offer. (SPL)

🪑 Shares held up remarkably well while this was happening.

See you all tomorrow.

The Armchair Analyst.

Control Bionics has three business buckets.

In the business update, the company addressed the first two.

This is the NeuroNode.

It allows someone who is completely paralysed to control devices with their brain:

For the last three years, CBL has sold its NeuroNode through a direct-to-sales model.

Own the reps. Own the sales process. 

BUT, it’s an expensive endeavour, and not so easy.

… particularly in the US.

At the start of this year, the company made the choice (the right one, in my opinion) to pivot from a direct sales model to a distribution model.

This is what it looks like…

Option 1 (direct sales): Sell it yourself, max the value but wear all the cost and risk.

OR

Option 2 (distribution): Sell it through someone else, give up some of the upside but drastically reduce costs.

CBL chose option 2.

The two partners that it chose, Tobii and PRC, are the largest distributors of eye-tracking software in the US and have hundreds of sales reps to sell the product.

Tobii has started to rollout to additional states in the US with CBL’s product.

Meaning CBL site is generating revenues right now under this partnership.

The transition from the direct sales model to the distribution model was a reason for the soft sales revenue for the quarter.

(around $1M in sales)

Essentially, the company pushed the reset button on revenues in favour of long-term sustainability.

PRC starts in August, and NextLevel starts in a few weeks.

Next milestones:

Now, this is the part that I’m most interested in.

A few weeks ago I was invited to test out the NeuroStrip device at the CBL offices.

The NeuroStrip is a tiny version of the NeuroNode that can read muscle signals with incredible accuracy and sensitivity.

Here is the device reading my muscle signals and providing feedback:

Right now, CBL has signed up a bunch of customers on trial agreements (that range from 2-4 months).

These are essentially test customers to establish value (and hopefully) turn into paying customers for the product.

There are 20 of them, with big names including…

British Olympic Team, Hawthorn, Broncos, GWS Giants, Rugby Australia (on the sports side).

Mayo Clinic, Mountain Land Physical Therapy, Ohio University (on the research and rehab side)

Oh… and there is a “significant European Football Club”.

(I’ve got a feeling I might know who it is).

This is the main growth driver I see for CBL, and a big reason why I named them as my third Armchair Pick.

The company has an ad out to find someone to lead the team:

That’s on the sports front.

It also sells the NeuroStrip product to rehab clinics.

What will drive sales will be clinical validation.

One of CBL’s major customers, the Stroke Lab in Japan, published an independent interim report on CBL’s NeuroStrip.

“Paretic-side surface EMG, pre- and post- intervention”

NeuroStrip proved it can measure muscle problems in real stroke patients that existing rehab tests completely miss.

The data is intended to be presented at “three academic conferences”.

(This is essentially the sales peer-to-peer sales pitch that drives adoption of medical device products).

Next milestones:

FIRST, on the assistive technology side.

A bit of a weaker quarter revenue-wise, which is understandable as the company transitions from a direct sales model to a distribution model.

BUT, distribution rollout is happening (and revenue is being earned) from those agreements.

In my view, this will take around six months to properly ramp up.

SECOND, on the sports & rehabilitation side.

Very good progress: 20 pilot trials in and some very big names using the product.

The first paying customer is a big milestone.

It will be validation that the technology is not only useful, but useful enough for someone to pay for it.

Right now, as the first few customers roll off their trials, it will be really interesting to see if CBL is able to secure a commercial sale in the near term. 

The company also completed a capital raise and has a pro forma cash balance of ~$9.4 million when the T2 cash comes in.

(To be voted on next week)

So it has the runway to deliver.

This is very much a “reset” quarter.

Next one is about getting early traction, and those first customers across the line to pay for the product.

See you all next week at Bioshares!

The Armchair Analyst