Lifeward's Big Bet: From Exoskeletons to a Risky Oral Insulin Play

MARLBOROUGH, Mass. – January 13, 2026 – Lifeward Ltd., a medical technology company known for its life-changing robotic exoskeletons and anti-gravity systems, today announced a dramatic pivot into the world of biotechnology. In a transformative strategic partnership, Lifeward will acquire the core technology of Oramed Pharmaceuticals, including a high-stakes oral insulin candidate, in a deal that will see Oramed become its largest shareholder.

The agreement positions Lifeward, a company focused on physical rehabilitation, as a diversified biomedical entity, blending its established MedTech revenue with a speculative but potentially massive biotech opportunity. The deal provides Lifeward with access to up to $47 million in new capital, a crucial lifeline for a company that has been burning through cash on its path to profitability.

For investors and patients alike, the move is a bold gamble. It ties Lifeward's future to Oramed's Protein Oral Delivery (POD™) technology, a platform whose lead drug candidate for oral insulin, ORMD-0801, failed to meet its goals in a pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial just three years ago.

A Lifeline and a New Direction

For years, Lifeward has been a pioneer in its field, with products like the ReWalk® Exoskeleton helping individuals with spinal cord injuries to stand and walk again. However, the company has faced significant financial headwinds. Despite growing revenues, which are projected to reach between $24 million and $26 million for 2025, Lifeward has consistently posted net losses and is rapidly using its cash reserves. The new infusion of up to $47 million from Oramed and another investor is explicitly designed to change that trajectory.

"This transaction, if approved, is expected to provide us with the financial resources to reach profitability with our proven ReWalk® and AlterG® product lines while simultaneously unlocking significant growth opportunities," said Mark Grant, President and CEO of Lifeward, in the official announcement. The capital is structured through a series of convertible notes and warrants, providing phased funding tied to performance milestones.

The strategy is twofold: first, stabilize the core business and achieve sustainable cash flow from its existing medical devices. Second, use the new partnership to swing for the fences with a long-term biotech play. This dual focus aims to create a balanced portfolio, combining near-term revenue with the potential for explosive growth from pharmaceutical innovation.

"We see tremendous potential to advance the oral insulin program as we build a truly diversified biomedical innovation company," Grant added, signaling a fundamental shift in the company’s identity and ambition.

The Promise and Peril of an Oral Insulin Pill

The centerpiece of the transaction is Oramed’s POD™ technology, a platform designed to convert injectable drugs into oral pills. Its lead candidate, ORMD-0801, targets what many consider a holy grail of diabetes treatment: a safe, effective oral insulin. The potential market is colossal, with the global injectable drug market valued at over $600 billion and insulin alone representing a multi-billion dollar segment. An oral option could dramatically improve patient compliance, comfort, and safety.

However, the path for ORMD-0801 has been fraught with challenges. In January 2023, Oramed announced that its large-scale Phase 3 trial for the drug in patients with type 2 diabetes had failed. The study did not meet its primary endpoint of reducing HbA1c levels compared to a placebo, nor did it meet its secondary endpoint. The news was a major blow, causing Oramed's stock to plummet and leading the company to discontinue its clinical activities for the program at the time.

Now, the companies are reviving the program based on a new interpretation of the data. The press release notes that while the Phase 3 study failed, an analysis revealed "high-responder subgroups that demonstrated particularly encouraging results." Based on this post-hoc analysis, Oramed plans to fund and manage a new, much smaller 60-patient clinical trial in the U.S. to re-evaluate the drug's potential. This makes Lifeward's acquisition not of a de-risked, late-stage asset, but of a technology that requires a second chance after a significant and public clinical setback, adding a substantial layer of risk to the venture.

A Novel Model for De-Risking R&D

The structure of the deal is as innovative as the technology it concerns. Rather than an outright sale, Oramed is essentially transferring its core technology to a new home while retaining significant influence and upside. In exchange for the POD™ platform, Oramed will acquire up to a 49.99% equity ownership in Lifeward. It will also receive a 4% royalty on net sales from Lifeward’s ReWalk product line for up to a decade.

This arrangement appears to be a strategic masterstroke for Oramed. After the Phase 3 failure, continuing to fund the program alone would have been a massive financial burden. This partnership allows Oramed to de-risk its investment by offloading the asset while gaining a substantial stake in a company with an established revenue stream. Oramed shareholders maintain exposure to any future success of oral insulin, but their investment is now diversified with Lifeward’s medical robotics business.

"This transaction represents an important strategic milestone for Oramed," commented Oramed’s CEO, Nadav Kidron. "Oramed shareholders retain substantial exposure to the oral delivery platform while simultaneously gaining meaningful participation in a proven revenue-generating medical robotics business and royalty streams."

This partnership model—where a biotech with a stalled but promising asset joins forces with a revenue-generating MedTech firm—could represent a new template for funding and advancing high-risk biomedical R&D. It provides a more stable financial foundation than relying solely on venture capital or public markets, which can be unforgiving after clinical trial failures.

Leadership and the Path Forward

To bolster confidence in the risky venture, the companies are highlighting the leadership of Lifeward's CEO, Mark Grant. With extensive experience in the diabetes market from senior roles at Medtronic's multi-billion dollar diabetes division and Bristol Myers Squibb, Grant's expertise is seen as a critical asset in navigating the complex clinical and commercial path ahead for ORMD-0801. Kidron noted, "With Mark Grant's extensive diabetes industry experience at the helm, we are confident in Lifeward's ability to advance both the medical robotics and oral insulin platforms."

The transaction, which has been unanimously approved by Lifeward’s board, is still subject to shareholder approval and other closing conditions. If it proceeds, Lifeward will be a fundamentally different company, one walking a tightrope between the steady, incremental progress of medical devices and the binary, high-stakes outcomes of pharmaceutical development. The success of this ambitious pivot will depend on its ability to execute flawlessly on two very different fronts.