Neuralink, the US neurotechnology firm co-founded by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, has begun recruiting key employees to run its clinical trials, signaling that it’s inching closer to starting human testing of its brain implants.
RT reported that the company has posted advertisements to hire a clinical trial director and a clinical trial coordinator. The ads note that the staffers will “work closely with some of the most innovative doctors and top engineers, as well as working with Neuralink’s first clinical trial participants.”
Neuralink said the director will lead and help build its clinical research team and will develop “regulatory interactions that come with a fast-paced and ever-evolving environment.” Musk, who ranks as the world’s richest person with a fortune estimated at $256 billion, said last month that he expects to have Neuralink brain chips implanted in humans sometime in 2022, pending approval for testing plans by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Musk and his Neuralink partners founded the company in 2016 to develop brain chips that connect humans with computers. He has claimed that the implants will enable paralyzed people to control such devices as smartphones with their brains.
His company aims to provide solutions for many physical disabilities by bridging signals between neurons, once human testing begins. The company publicly demonstrated the power of its technology last April, when it posted footage that claimed to show a monkey playing a video game with its mind.
Last month, Musk said at an event that Neuralink hoped to begin human experiments sometime in 2022. But, instead of playing video games, a human trial will aim for therapeutic uses, such as helping paralyzed patients restore certain physical functionalities.
“We have a chance with Neuralink to restore full-body functionality to someone who has a spinal cord injury,” Musk said on Twitter last month. To implant a chip in a human, Neuralink will first need to go through a feasibility test with the FDA and then obtain the agency’s approval for a pivotal device test.
Musk is confident that the FDA will issue those green lights. Observer stated that the ideal candidate for the position, based in Fremont, Calif., is expected to have an “understanding of the clinical trial process from beginning to end” and “experience with implantable Class II or Class III medical devices,” among other qualifications.
