- NervGen Pharma (TSXV:NGEN) was awarded a US$3.18 million grant from Wings for Life for its spinal cord injury treatment trial
- The grant will support the company’s upcoming Phase 1b/2a proof of concept clinical trial for its proprietary lead compound, NVG-291, in individuals with spinal cord injury
- The primary objective is to assess the change in corticospinal connectivity of defined upper and lower extremity muscle groups following treatment
- NervGen Pharma Corp. (NGEN) opened trading at C$1.60 per share
NervGen Pharma (TSXV:NGEN) was awarded a US$3.18 million grant from Wings for Life for its spinal cord injury treatment trial.
The grant will support the company’s upcoming Phase 1b/2a proof of concept clinical trial for its proprietary lead compound, NVG-291, in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI).
Wings for Life is a not-for-profit spinal cord injury research foundation out to cure spinal cord injury.
The placebo-controlled proof of concept trial will evaluate the efficacy of NVG-291 in two separate cohorts of people with cervical spinal cord injury: chronic (1-10 years post-injury) and subacute (10-49 days post-injury), given demonstrated efficacy in preclinical models of chronic and acute spinal cord injury.
The primary objective is to assess the change in corticospinal connectivity of defined upper and lower extremity muscle groups following treatment.
NervGen CEO Mike Kelly said in a news release the company’s goal is to begin enrolling subjects in this trial by Q3 2023.
“Wings for Life’s grant support for our SCI clinical program comes at an important inflection point for NervGen as we transition from our recently completed Phase 1 study in healthy volunteers to this Phase 1b/2a proof of concept study,” Kelly said.
The principal investigator of this trial, Monica A. Perez, PT, PhD., explained that one of the novel aspects of this clinical trial is the use of advanced quantitative electrophysiology to assess recovery of motor connectivity after treatment with NVG-291, in addition to clinical assessments to measure recovery of motor function.
“At Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, we have leveraged electrophysiology extensively to strengthen neuronal connectivity using non-invasive spike-timing dependent plasticity protocols, but this approach has been sparsely used in clinical trials of investigational pharmacologic therapies for individuals with spinal cord injury. We are excited that Shirley Ryan AbilityLab will be the single center working with NervGen on this important clinical trial,” Perez said in a news release.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has also completed its review of the company’s clinical trial protocol and has determined that the study may proceed. The company will continue to work to resolve the ongoing partial clinical hold from the FDA, but the hold does not impact the conduct of this trial.
NervGen Pharma is a Vancouver, B.C.-based clinical stage biotech company dedicated to developing innovative treatments for the nervous system to repair itself after damage.
NervGen Pharma Corp. (NGEN) opened trading at C$1.60 per share.
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