Parker Hannifin, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, announced that it has entered into clinical trial agreements with four rehabilitation institutions in the United States to support the testing and development of the Indego® exoskeleton. Parker is currently developing a second generation device for clinical trials starting in July 2014 to support submission for U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval. Pending regulatory approvals, Parker is targeting commercial launch of Indego in Europe in early 2015 and in the United States in 2016.
Parker has formalized agreements with the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Illinois; Kessler Foundation/Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation, West Orange, New Jersey; Rusk Rehabilitation at New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, New York; and Craig Hospital, Denver, Colorado. These institutions will work in concert with Shepherd Center, Atlanta, Georgia, which will continue as Parker’s lead rehabilitation center for clinical testing of the device. Each of these institutions is currently ranked in the top ten U.S. rehabilitation centers by U.S. News & World Report.
“Our objective is to bring Indego to market to enable people who were told they would never walk again to stand upright and walk and to provide a new level of independence,” said Achilleas Dorotheou, head of the human motion and control business unit for Parker.”