Rex Bionics notes positive clinical trial results

Rex Bionics notes positive results from a final analysis of its RAPPER II clinical trial, but this failed to excite the company's share price.

RAPPER II is an international trial to evaluate the feasibility and safety of the REX, assessing a set of customised exercises performed in a REX and the impact on users' quality of life.

REX is a hands-free, self supporting, independently controlled, robotic mobility device.

The trial's 18 tetraplegic patients achieved essentially the same results as the 38 paraplegic patients, AIM-quoted Rex Bionics said in a statement.

In six of the eight statements, the responses indicated an improvement in sleep reduction, suggesting a beneficial exercise-induced fatigue.

The greatest improvement was seen in relation to the proposition "I felt physically tense at night", where there was a 90% improvement in the mean score of all respondents.

The next greatest improvements were seen in "I had trouble stopping my thoughts at bed-time" and "Pain woke me up".

This confirms that the benefits of the REX technology are available to people with more severe injuries - including those in the upper to mid cervical range in the spinal column.

"No clear trends were discernible in the pain and spasticity questionnaires that were also used," the company said.

Rex Bionics seeks to establish robot-assisted physiotherapy as a standard of care for people with neurological injury or illness.

At about 12:10 GMT, shares in Rex Bionics were flat at 22.5p.