Contrary to popular belief, New Jersey has many hidden treasures and now Edge Therapeutics, a Newark, New Jersey based biopharmaceutical company has made tremendous headway in their quest for a cure for debilitating and potentially fatal brain injuries. The company announced recently that NimoGel, an investigational sustained-release medicine delivered directly to the brain, prevented delayed complications of sudden brain injury in a preclinical study. Researchers reported that NimoGel effectively prevented cerebral vasospasm, the constriction of blood vessels in the brain, after subarachnoid hemorrhage, or sudden bleeding in the space between the middle lining of the brain and the brain itself, in a large-animal model. Cerebral vasospasm is a leading cause of permanent brain damage and death after brain injury.
“We are very encouraged by these preclinical results and are planning to initiate a Phase 2 clinical trial in patients with ruptured brain aneurysms in 2012,” said Brian A. Leuthner, President and Chief Executive Officer of Edge Therapeutics.
Cerebral vasospasm occurs three to 14 days after subarachnoid hemorrhage and results in other blood vessels in the brain contracting, thereby limiting blood flow to vital areas of the brain. This reduced blood flow can cause a stroke or additional tissue damage.
NimoGel™ is the lead development candidate in the company’s pipeline of site-specific, sustained-release drug candidates being developed to prevent delayed complications following various types of spontaneous and traumatic brain hemorrhages. It is designed to provide consistent and sufficiently high nimodipine concentrations in the brain to prevent the catastrophic condition of delayed cerebral ischemia while avoiding previous dose-limiting systemic side effects.
Edge Therapeutics has been featured in Drug Delivery Technology and Drug Discovery News and was a presenting company at the first annual OneMedForum NY 2010.