ONWARD® Medical Publishes Annual Sustainability Summary

Company strengthens sustainability practices prior to commercialization

EINDHOVEN, the Netherlands, July 17, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — ONWARD Medical N.V. (Euronext: ONWD), the medical technology company creating innovative spinal cord stimulation therapies to restore movement, function, and independence in people with spinal cord injury (SCI), recently published its Annual Sustainability Summary for the full year 2023. The summary is available here and on the Company’s website in the Investors section (https://ir.onwd.com/esg-information).

EcoVadis, the world’s largest provider of business sustainability ratings, rated ONWARD Medical in the top 40% in the industry for its sustainability performance. The EcoVadis assessment evaluates 20+ sustainability criteria across four core themes: Environment, Labor & Human Rights, Ethics, and Sustainable Procurement. More than 130,000 companies globally have been rated by EcoVadis.

“Even as a relatively young company, ONWARD Medical is committed to integrating responsible and sustainable practices into all aspects of our business to help improve the lives of millions of people with spinal cord injury,” said Dave Marver, CEO of ONWARD Medical. “In the last year we strengthened our policies, procedures and resources in several important areas, including product quality and safety, diversity, equity and inclusion, and supplier management.”

The summary describes new measures the company has put in place to strengthen its sustainability approach and performance, such as:

• An assessment to direct the company’s focus and resources where most impactful
• New policies in stakeholder dialogue, environmental management and data privacy
• Codes of conduct for marketing to healthcare professionals and for interactions with third parties, such as suppliers and contractors

The summary also highlights the company’s performance across a set of sustainability indicators such as:

• Environmental Management:
  • 88% of purchased electricity from renewable sources
• Social Impact:
  • 45% of supervisor and manager roles held by women¹
  • Women represent 50% of the top 20% of earners

ONWARD Medical’s sustainability strategy is centered on five core principles that support seven United Nations Sustainable Development Goals² (SDGs):

• Minimizing our environmental footprint (SDGs 8, 12, and 13)
• Innovating for the underserved (SDGs 3, 9, and 10)
• Partnering with patient groups (SDG 16)
• Maintaining high ethical standards (SDGs 8, 12, 13, and 16)
• Attracting and retaining top talent (SDGs 3, 9, and 10)

To learn more about ONWARD Medical’s commitment to partnering with the SCI Community to develop innovative solutions for restoring movement, function, and independence after spinal cord injury, please visit ONWD.com.

*All ONWARD^® Medical devices and therapies, including but not limited to ARC-IM^®, ARC-EX^®, ARC-BCI^™, and ARC Therapy^™, alone or in combination with a brain-computer interface (BCI), are investigational and not available for commercial use

About 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.    

Headquartered in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, ONWARD Medical has a Science and Engineering Center in Lausanne, Switzerland and a US office in Boston, Massachusetts. The Company is listed on Euronext Brussels and Amsterdam (ticker: ONWD).

For more information, visit ONWD.com, and connect with us on LinkedIn and YouTube.

For Media Inquiries:  
Aditi Roy, VP Communications 
media@onwd.com 

For Investor Inquiries: 
Amori Fraser, Finance Director
investors@onwd.com  

Disclaimer  

Certain statements, beliefs, and opinions in this press release are forward-looking, which reflect the Company’s or, as appropriate, the Company directors’ current expectations and projections about future events. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve several risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties, and assumptions could adversely affect the outcome and financial effects of the plans and events described herein. A multitude of factors including, but not limited to, changes in demand, competition, and technology, can cause actual events, performance, or results to differ significantly from any anticipated development. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release regarding past trends or activities should not be taken as a representation that such trends or activities will continue in the future. As a result, the Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release any update or revisions to any forward-looking statements in this press release as a result of any change in expectations or any change in events, conditions, assumptions, or circumstances on which these forward-looking statements are based. Neither the Company nor its advisers or representatives nor any of its subsidiary undertakings or any such person’s officers or employees guarantees that the assumptions underlying such forward-looking statements are free from errors nor does either accept any responsibility for the future accuracy of the forward-looking statements contained in this press release or the actual occurrence of the forecasted developments. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. All ONWARD Medical devices and therapies referenced here, including but not limited to ARC-IM^®, ARC-EX^®, ARC-BCI™ and ARC Therapy™, are investigational and not available for commercial use.

¹ Defined as employees with one or more direct reports
² United Nations. “The 17 Sustainable Development Goals.” UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs – Sustainable Development. https://sdgs.un.org/goals