Healthcare, ECM

Bryan, Garnier & Co acts as Joint Global Coordinator & Joint Bookrunner on ONWARD Medical’s EUR 50m Follow-On Offering, anchored for EUR 22.5m by a Cornerstone Investment from Ottobock

ONWARD Medical is a medical technology company creating therapies to restore movement, function, and independence in people with spinal cord injury (SCI) and movement disabilities.

Its ARC-EX and implantable ARC-IM devices aim to restore blood pressure control, upper limb function, and mobility. Studies showed that for the first time ever people with complete SCIs, i.e. paraplegic patients, were able to walk again. 

ONWARD has received ten FDA Breakthrough Device Designations and has been issued over 270 patents for its innovative SCI therapies. The company expects to start commercialisation with the launch of its first product in Q4 2024. 

ONWARD is also uniquely positioned in the brain-computer interfaces (BCI) technology, which aim to facilitates communication between brain and computer. 

The net proceeds from the offering are expected to extend the current cash runway of the company to two years or more and to: 

  • Fund research & development activities, including continued product development, clinical studies and regulatory activities for the investigational ARC-EX® System to restore hand and arm function, the investigational ARC-IM® System for improved blood pressure regulation after SCI and other exploratory indications, and the investigational ARC-BCI™ System to restore thought-driven movement of the human body after SCI 
  • Support the expected commercial launch of the ARC-EX System in the United States later this year, including hiring a field sales organisation and conducting selling activities, producing training and education materials and conducting training events, attending congresses, developing customer support capabilities and conducting customer support activities, and conducting market access and reimbursement activities 
  • Build quality, operations, and administrative capabilities, other working capital requirements or potential strategic opportunities and debt financing costs.

Bryan, Garnier & Co acts as Joint Global Coordinator and Joint Bookrunner on an upsized EUR 50m Follow-on Offering for ONWARD Medical, anchored for EUR 22.5m by a Cornerstone Investment from Ottobock, a global leader in the fields of prosthetics and orthotics.

This transaction is the largest Follow-on Offering for a MedTech company on Euronext exchanges year-to-date. 

It is also one of the very few MedTech capital raises to be anchored by a high-quality strategic investor in Europe. Ottobock will hold around 10% of the company’s share capital following the capital raise. 

The transaction was launched after a wall-cross exercise that showed strong support from existing shareholders, with incremental demand from new Long-Only investors and MedTech specialists from various geographies.  

Reflecting strong interest from investors, books were covered shortly after public launch. Following a 2-day bookbuilding, the offering was upsized from EUR 40m to EUR 50m with a high-quality book of demand. 

The new shares were offered at EUR 5.00, representing a 10.6% discount to 30-day VWAP.  

This is the second consecutive offering Bryan, Garnier & Co has led for ONWARD Medical in 2024, raising EUR 70m in cumulated value and demonstrating its dedicated commitment to supporting its clients, as well as its unique ability to raise capital for European Medical Technology companies at any stage of development. 

Following on from Egetis Therapeutics, Camurus, Calliditas Therapeutics, Valneva, Boiron, Cinclus Pharma, Medincell, Abivax and numerous other landmark transactions in the healthcare sector, this new deal marks another milestone for Bryan, Garnier & Co’s expertise.

"We are thrilled to welcome Ottobock as a strategic investor and largest shareholder, anchoring an upsized EUR 50m equity raise. Bryan Garnier understands the needs of fast-growing, technology-driven companies like ONWARD Medical. Their commitment to achieving a successful capital raise was essential, and they provided outstanding guidance throughout."

— Dave Marver, CEO at ONWARD Medical

ONWARD® Medical is a medical technology company creating therapies to restore movement, function, and independence in people with spinal cord injury (SCI) and movement disabilities. Building on more than a decade of scientific discovery, preclinical, and clinical research conducted at leading hospitals, rehabilitation clinics, and neuroscience laboratories, the company has developed ARC Therapy™, which has been awarded ten Breakthrough Device Designations from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).  

ONWARD ARC Therapy is targeted, programmed spinal cord stimulation designed to be delivered by the company’s external ARC-EX® or implantable ARC-IM® platforms. ARC Therapy can also be delivered by the company’s ARC-BCI™ platform, which pairs the ARC-IM System with brain-computer interface (BCI) technology to restore movement after SCI with thought-driven control.  

Use of non-invasive ARC-EX Therapy significantly improved upper limb function after SCI in the global pivotal Up-LIFT trial, with results published by Nature Medicine in May 2024. The company has submitted its regulatory application to the FDA for clearance of the ARC-EX System in the US and is preparing for regulatory submission in Europe. In parallel, the company is conducting clinical studies with its ARC-IM Therapy, which demonstrated positive interim clinical outcomes for improved blood pressure regulation following SCI. Other ongoing clinical studies focus on using ARC-IM Therapy to address mobility after SCI and gait challenges in Parkinson’s disease as well as using the ARC-BCI platform to restore thought driven movement of both upper and lower limbs after SCI.

For more than 100 years, Ottobock has been developing innovative fitting solutions for people with reduced mobility. As a Human Empowerment Company, Ottobock promotes freedom of movement, quality for life and independence. This is supported by more than 9,000 employees. With innovative power, outstanding technical solutions and services in the fields of Prosthetics, Orthotics, NeuroMobility and Patient Care, they enable people in 135 countries to live their lives the best possible way they want them to.

As a market leader in wearable human bionics, the company founded in 1919 is constantly setting new standards and pushing ahead with the digitalisation of the industry – together with its partners, the medical supply companies and international research institutions.

Since 2018, Ottobock has been transferring its expertise in biomechanics to exoskeletons for ergonomic workplaces. The international activities of the company are coordinated from the head office in Duderstadt (state of Lower Saxony). Ottobock has been supporting the Paralympic Games with its technical expertise since 1988.