ONWARD Medical NV, the medical technology company creating innovative therapies to restore movement, independence, and health in people with spinal cord injury, announces the start of enrollment in the LIFT Home Study. The trial is designed to study the safety and performance of ARCEX Therapy when used in the home.

ONWARD’s ARCEX Therapy is externally delivered programmed stimulation of the spinal cord to restore strength and function in people with spinal cord injury and other movement-related challenges. The study will enroll up to 20 participants at five leading research centers in the United States: Craig Hospital in Denver, Colorado, Shepherd Center in Atlanta, Georgia, Spaulding Research Institute in Boston, Massachusetts, University of Minnesota, and University of Washington.

Subjects will be followed for 4 weeks to assess whether continued access to ONWARD’s ARCEX Therapy is safe and can be used to enhance long-term benefit.

First Patients Enrolled in LIFT Home Study

The first participants have been enrolled at Craig Hospital under the supervision of study principal investigator, Candy Tefertiller, PT, DPT, PhD, NCS, Executive Director of Research and Evaluation at Craig and at the University of Washington in Seattle by Chet Moritz, PhD, Associate Professor in the Departments of Electrical & Computer Engineering and Rehabilitation Medicine.

“The LIFT Home Study is an important next step in understanding the potential benefits people with spinal cord injury may derive from continued access to ARC Therapy outside the clinic,” Tefertiller says.

The LIFT Home Study is a successor to ONWARD’s Up-LIFT Study, a pivotal trial that completed enrollment of 65 participants in December 2021, with participating research centers in the US, Canada, the UK, and Europe. Up-LIFT is designed to demonstrate ONWARD ARCEX Therapy can improve the strength and function of upper limbs when used in the rehabilitation clinic setting. The LIFT Home Study seeks to evaluate the potential impact of ARCEX Therapy when used in the home setting.

“We are pleased to collaborate with an outstanding group of researchers to investigate new potential benefits and care settings for our ARCEX Therapy,” says Dave Marver, CEO of ONWARD regarding the LIFT Home Study. “This is another step in our journey to help people with spinal cord injury live better, more independent lives.”

[Source(s): ONWARD, Business Wire]