A revolutionary treatment designed to help redefine the future of people with spinal cord injury (SCI) is to embark on a clinical trial.
The NVG-291 treatment has previously indicated its huge potential through two independent studies, which resulted in significant recovery in mobility and/or bladder function in animals with spinal cord injury.
Now, NervGen Pharma, the biotech company behind NVG-291, has announced a Memorandum of Understanding the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, with the intention of progressing the first clinical trial of the treatment.
The single site trial is expected to start in the second half of this year and will assess the safety and effect of NVG-291 in treating acute and subacute, as well as chronic SCI, patients.
NVG-291 is based on the by Dr Jerry Silver at Case Western Reserve University of a class of molecules (chondroitin sulphate proteoglycans, or CSPGs) that are up-regulated in response to nervous system damage and that inhibit repair.
NVG-291 was designed to bypass this inhibition by CSPGs, thereby enhancing the body’s natural repair mechanisms, including plasticity, regeneration and remyelination.
“We have been following Dr Silver’s work for years and are very excited to be the first centre working with NervGen on this important spinal cord injury study,” said Dr Monica A. Perez, scientific chair of the Arms + Hands Lab at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab.
“One of the important aspects of this single-centre, placebo-controlled trial is the use of advanced electrophysiology to assess transmission in cortical and subcortical neuronal pathways as well as behavioural outcomes.
“The ability of NVG-291 to demonstrate meaningful recovery in motor function, sensory function and bladder control in animal models is exceptional.
“If these results translate to patients, NVG-291 could redefine the treatment of spinal cord injury.”
“NervGen and Shirley Ryan AbilityLab are planning a very unique and intriguing trial design, into which I have been fortunate to provide input,” stated Dr James Guest, professor of neurological surgery at the University of Miami and member of NervGen’s Spinal Cord Injury Clinical Advisory Board.
“The rationale to include acute and chronic patients in a study underscores the broad potential of the mechanism of NVG-291 in SCI.
“Using Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in a single-centre study that implements advanced electrophysiological techniques to monitor connectivity across the site of injury will allow reproducible testing to explore NVG-291’s effects on motor recovery, possibly shaping the impact of subsequent studies.
“Partnering with Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, a leading institution in spinal cord injury research and management of patients with spinal cord injury, is an exceptional opportunity for NervGen.”
