“We are thrilled to have a globally recognized organization like Cardinal Health support Innara and the NTrainer. Not only is this collaboration validating for our clients and our team, but it is also a clear indication of Cardinal Health’s commitment to improving clinical outcomes through innovation. We look forward to seeing their contributions toward providing preterm infants with their best opportunity to develop, grow, and thrive,” stated Innara Health CEO Chris Mathia.
Innara Health’s NTrainer System is the only FDA-cleared medical device that focuses on improving a critical key pre-feeding skill in newborns and preterm infants known as non-nutritive suck (NNS). NNS is often lacking or weak in preterm infants but critical for the safe transition from feeding tubes to breast or bottle. The successful transition from feeding tubes to breast or bottle is a developmental milestone for preterm infants and recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics as criteria for discharge from the NICU. By utilizing Innara’s patented technology for improving non-nutritive sucking proficiency, the NTrainer has been clinically proven to improve feeding outcomes while also reducing length of NICU stay.
“Cardinal Health is dedicated to improving patient outcomes and we’re looking forward to supporting Innara’s critical work,” said Kelley Moffett, Cardinal Health’s senior vice president of Global Products. “We see tremendous value in this relationship, given our shared focus on neonatal nutrition, and we’re proud to support development and commercialization of the next generation NTrainer.”
Innara Health partnered with Boston-based life sciences and healthcare advisory and strategic investment banking firm, Outcome Capital.
“The Innara team is dedicated to delivering cutting-edge technology to help improve the lives of babies and their families. Thanks to the support from Outcome Capital, Flyover Capital, BioHealth Innovation Inc., and our other investors over the last few years, the company is now positioned to work with Cardinal Health in rapidly bring the next generation NTrainer to market,” stated Innara board chair Keith Molzer.
Innara’s visibility and the pathway to the NTrainer redesign gained momentum in 2020 after being selected to participate in the MedTech Innovator accelerator pediatric cohort. Innara went on to capture a top award of $50,000 in FDA funding through the accelerator’s culminating event, “Make Your Medical Device Pitch for Kids!” The competition was hosted by the National Capital Consortium for Pediatric Device Innovation (NCC-PDI), a partnership of Children’s National Hospital, University of Maryland and MedTech Innovator. In addition to the award, NCC-PDI also provided Innara with medical device consultation to help advance the NTrainer’s development path.
The NTrainer has provided therapy for thousands of patients in Neonatal Intensive Care Units and rehabilitation facilities throughout the United States. The next-generation NTrainer is expected to be available mid-Q4, 2022.
About Innara Health
Innara Health is a leader in feeding health technology and is dedicated to advancing the global understanding and improvement of neonatal feeding. In working towards this goal Innara Heath has developed the FDA cleared NTrainer System®. The NTrainer is an advancement for oral feeding development as it fosters skills essential to the normal development of oral feeding for premature and newborn infants. Innara Health continues to work towards creating cutting edge products that improve standards of care, optimize patient outcomes, and increase healthcare benefits for feeding health.
About Cardinal Health
Cardinal Health is a distributor of pharmaceuticals, a global manufacturer and distributor of medical and laboratory products, and a provider of performance and data solutions for health care facilities. With 50 years in business, operations in more than 30 countries and approximately 44,000 employees globally, Cardinal Health is essential to care. Information about Cardinal Health is available at cardinalhealth.com.
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