Prevacus to use blinktbi’s EyeStat in phase 1 concussion drug trial
Clinical trial news : US biopharma company Prevacus has forged a partnership with medical device company blinktbi to use the latter’s EyeStat as an objective biomarker of brain function during a phase 1 clinical trial of a concussion drug.
EyeStat is expected to deliver quick and objective data regarding neurological function by capturing and measuring the blink reflex, said Prevacus, which is focused on developing treatments for concussion, also called as mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and other neurological disorders.
Dr. Jake VanLandingham – CEO of Prevacus, commenting on the use of EyeStat during the clinical trial of the company’s concussion drug, said: “EyeStat will provide significant assistance during our upcoming phase 1 clinical study.
“We are grateful for their support in pursuit of discovering a solution to concussions for our athletes, military personnel and all other at-risk groups. It will take multiple companies collaborating to find the solve the problems of this epidemic.”
Considered to be a lightweight and portable device, EyeStat stimulates the blink reflex through the use of light puffs of air in a 20-second test. By using high speed videography, the medical device records and analyzes specific changes in the blink reflex that indicate a traumatic brain injury, and provides easy to read, objective data pertaining to neurological function in less than a minute.
Prevacus is developing concussion drugs for the treatment of mild traumatic brain injury. Photo courtesy: PRNewsfoto/Prevacus, Inc.
Commenting on the use of EyeStat for the clinical trial of Prevacus concussion drug, Ryan Fiorini – Chief Operations Officer at blinktbi, said: “We are thrilled to partner with Prevacus in support of the studies they’re conducting on their novel and promising drugs as an alternate line of therapies for TBI. We hope EyeStat will assist the team greatly in their studies and mission to advance treatment in this field.”
Prevacus is developing a concussion drug PRV-002, which is said to be a fully synthetic non-naturally occurring neurosteroid, to be delivered to the patient through the nasal cavity. PRV-002 is designed for treating concussion working at the molecular level to simultaneously alleviate inflammation, swelling, ischemic injury and oxidative stress.
Recently, Prevacus entered into a partnership with BrainScope to use the latter’s FDA-approved BrainScope One device as an objective biomarker of brain function in its Phase 1b clinical trial to assess its concussion drug.
The BrainScope One system is expected to deliver a multi-dimensional assessment of brain function including EEG measures, cognitive performance tests along with standard, digitized concussion assessment tests to help in standardizing data collection in clinical sites.