Onward Medical Starts New Study of ARC-IM for Mobility After SCI

Onward Medical announced the first implant in the EIGER feasibility study assessing the investigational ARC-IM system to restore mobility in subacute or chronic spinal cord injury (SCI) patients.

The EIGER study will evaluate the safety and preliminary effectiveness of ARC-IM to support recovery of standing and walking after spinal cord injury. Up to 12 participants will be enrolled in two cohorts: those with subacute injuries sustained less than six weeks before enrollment and those with chronic injuries sustained more than one year earlier.

The study is being conducted at Schweizer Paraplegiker-Zentrum in Nottwil and Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois in Lausanne, Switzerland, where Jocelyne Bloch, MD, chief of neurosurgery, led the first procedure. EIGER is supported by an Innosuisse grant.

ARC-IM is composed of the company’s implanted neurostimulator and lumbar lead. It was engineered to precisely activate spinal circuits involved in lower-limb and trunk movement to facilitate motor function recovery following SCI.

The ARC-IM platform is being developed for multiple SCI and movement disorder indications, including Parkinson’s disease. The system is also being evaluated in the Empower BP pivotal study for blood pressure instability after SCI.

“The EIGER study is an important next step in our drive to restore mobility after spinal cord injury,” said Dave Marver, CEO of Onward. “We intend for this study to inform the design of a pivotal study that will enable us to bring this important new therapy to market for the benefit of those with SCI and other movement disabilities.”