Innara Health

About Innara Health

Based in Olathe, Kansas, Innara Health operates in the medical technology sector, focusing on neonatal feeding solutions. The company was established in 2007 to address critical feeding challenges faced by premature infants. In April 2022, the company was acquired by Cardinal Health, a Fortune 500 company, following a strategic partnership to redesign and commercialize its flagship product. This acquisition positioned the technology for broader market access through Cardinal Health's extensive distribution network. Chris Mathia, who became CEO in 2019 after joining from Perceptive Software, led the company through a significant restructuring and the eventual acquisition.

Innara Health's core offering is the NTrainer System®, the only FDA-cleared medical device designed to assess and develop an infant's non-nutritive suck (NNS), a crucial skill for transitioning from tube to oral feeding. The NTrainer provides patterned oral stimulation via a pacifier, helping to build the neural pathways required for coordinated sucking. This therapy has been clinically demonstrated to improve feeding outcomes, reduce the time to full oral feeds, and shorten the length of stay in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). The system is utilized by clinicians in NICUs and pediatric cardiac intensive care units to obtain objective data on sucking patterns and guide feeding readiness. The business model shifted under new leadership to a subscription basis, allowing hospitals to treat an unlimited number of infants and simplifying a previously complex pricing structure.

A significant milestone was the development of the NTrainer System 2.0, a collaboration with Cardinal Health. Prompted by feedback for a smaller, more user-friendly device, the redesign features a more compact and intuitive interface to better integrate into NICU workflows. The company's progress was bolstered by non-dilutive funding from the MedTech Innovator accelerator and an FDA-sponsored pediatric device consortium. The NTrainer technology is supported by a strong intellectual property portfolio, including 16 patents across 20 countries.