Inside The Spinal Cord: InVivo Therapeutics Looks To Reverse Injury, Leverage Regulatory Reforms

17 Apr 2017

• By David Filmore

InVivo Therapeutics is looking to build on a breakthrough in understanding the pathophysiology of spinal cord injury to bring the first device to market for partially reversing the debilitating condition. The firm is dealing with a cautious FDA in its pivotal-trial development, but also looking to leverage a new US policy for humanitarian-use devices to expedite its path to market expansion.

Spinal cord injury is a clear-and-present unmet need in health care. Fifteen thousand people per year in the US suffer acute injury to the spinal cord, causing loss of motor and sensory function. While a small proportion of patients make some recovery with rehab, most don't, and there is no treatment to reverse the damage.

Cambridge, Mass.-based InVivo Therapeutics Holdings Corp. wants to serve as the foundation for a new paradigm in treating SCI...