Frankfurt The Dutch company Onward Medical wants to give people with spinal cord injuries more mobility again. It has developed spinal cord stimulation technology that has been tested over the past few months in a world-first study on 65 people whose arms and legs are paralyzed (chronic quadriplegia).
Onward Medical announced on Tuesday that the pivotal study had achieved its goal. Those affected were therefore able to move their upper extremities. At best, they can even manage to eat and drink unaided and even grab the wheels of a wheelchair to get around.
The company intends to announce the detailed results of the study after the data have been checked by the US FDA.
Stock market investors reacted positively to the news. Onward Medical’s shares on the Dutch Euronext shot up by 37 percent to EUR 7.75 after the start of trading. Founded in 2014, the company went public in October 2021 and raised more than 80 million euros, which is considered good value for a medical technology company with early-stage research.
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Bryan Garnier’s analysts believe Onward Medical’s product platform is transformative, meaning it could spark a sea change in the way people are treated. The positive news could be the first in a row, say the analysts, who confirm their buy rating and price target of EUR 17 for Onward Medical.
According to Onward Medical, around seven million people worldwide are affected by a spinal cord injury.
(Photo: Onward Medical)
According to Onward Medical, around seven million people worldwide are affected by a spinal cord injury, including more than 650,000 in the USA and Europe. So far there is no cure. The quality of life of those affected suffers due to paralysis, loss of feeling and health problems such as poor blood pressure control, incontinence and an increased risk of infection.
The technology that Onward Medical is now using is based on more than a decade of basic research and preclinical development conducted in the world’s leading neuroscience laboratories.
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The work of the neuroscientist Grégoire Courtine, who co-founded the company in 2014 as a spin-off from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, the technical and scientific university in Lausanne, is also decisive here. He still serves today as Chief Scientific Officer for Onward Medical.
Experimental research by the company founder caused a stir
Courtine and his research group caused a stir earlier this year with the publication of experimental research results. Thanks to a newly developed implant with 16 small electrodes and personalized stimulation, three paraplegics were able to perform their first muscle movements again after just a few hours.
After several months of training, the test subjects were again able to stand and walk for hours with crutches. However, they have to control these movements via a tablet and cannot evoke them arbitrarily.
The technology is designed to stimulate the spinal cord.
(Photo: Onward Medical)
However, it is a long way from success in an experimental environment to the use of the technology as an approved medical product. Onward Medical therefore focused on restoring function of the upper extremities in the first pivotal study. This is particularly important for many paraplegics, as CEO Dave Marver said in an interview with the Handelsblatt.
The product called ARC-ex, which is used, is an external solution: a device attached to the wheelchair sends electrical impulses through the skin into the spinal cord via sensors attached to the neck of the person concerned. They are intended to stimulate intact but inactive nerve pathways.
Onward Medical relies on ARC-ex technology
In other early studies, Onward Medical is also testing implantable electrical stimulation solutions. Among other things, the company wanted to improve blood pressure control for people with spinal cord injuries, but allow movement of the lower extremities again.
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Following the successful study, the approval applications for the most advanced ARC-ex technology are now to be prepared. Onward Medical hopes to launch the products in the US and Europe in the second half of 2023, according to CEO Marver.
Onward Medical’s major shareholders are investment firms and venture capitalists such as NRT, Inkef, Wellington, LSP and GIMV. The company also works with the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, which promotes innovative treatments for people with spinal cord injuries. Actor Christopher Reeve became known from 1978 as the actor of the comic book hero “Superman”. After a riding accident in 1995, Reeve was paraplegic and died in 2004 after a cardiac arrest.
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