Further medical has plans for a stock exchange listing in Amsterdam and Brussels. The company is developing a device that promotes the spinal cord after being drawn. The specific date range of the IPO transactions is not yet known.

Founded in 2014, Onward Medical is a spin-off of the Center for Neuroprosthetics at the highly regarded École Polytechnique de Lausanne. It has a branch in the Swiss city, but the head office is in Eindhoven. The company will also expand in the United States, in Massachusetts.

Onward’s therapy is based on two devices, one implantable (ARC-IM) and one external (ARC-EX), each targeting different levels of spinal cord injury and possible other conditions, such as Parkinson’s disease and stroke. Both platforms have not yet received regulatory approval for commercialization, and each has been labeled a “groundbreaking tool” by the US health agency’s FDA.

The external is currently being tested in a clinical trial that started in January 2021. If the study is successfully completed and if the company receives approvals, it plans to launch the ARC-EX platform in the US and Europe by 2023. The ARC-IM platform could be incorporated in the US and Europe by 2024.

ARC-IM uses a wireless implant. During surgery, electrodes are implanted over the spinal cord. In one study, three patients with SCI who still had little function in their legs were able to stand and even walk with support from their body weight. Another technology that ONWARD has developed is called ARC-EX. This device consists of a basic stimulator that uses a high-frequency waveform to numb the skin, combined with a lower-frequency stimulation pulse aimed at sending energy through the spinal cord. No surgery is required for this device. A first study showed a significant and lasting improvement in the patient’s arm and hand movements.

Financing

Last April, the Medtech company raised 26 million euros. This new financing round was led by Invest-NL, the Dutch impact investment fund, and Olympic Investments, the private equity arm of the Onassis Foundation. Since its inception, the company has raised approximately EUR 70 million. Shareholders also include the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation. The American actor, who played Superman in the films, died in 2004 after being quadriplegic for ten years after falling from a horse.

More about ONWARD Medical here