(Reuters) – Neuralink rival Synchron said on Thursday it has acquired an equity stake in medical component maker Acquandas, as it looks to improve manufacturing operations of its brain implant.
New-York based Synchron is farther along in the process of developing a brain implant than Elon Musk’s Neuralink. On Monday, Musk said the first human patient had received an implant from Neuralink.
Synchron did not reveal the size of the stake it was acquiring or the financial details of the agreement.
It launched a second small U.S. trial of its brain implant device early last year, enrolling patients with severe paralysis due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), stroke, spinal cord injury or multiple sclerosis.
Synchron, like Neuralink, aims to help patients with severe paralysis control digital devices. It received U.S. approval for human testing in July 2021, five years after applying to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
(Reporting by Bhanvi Satija in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
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