NeurOp, Inc. has received $700,000 in funding as part of a $3 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) award to support its cerebral ischemia development program. This third year of funding from the NIH will support pre-IND and additional efficacy studies for NeurOp’s proprietary development candidate. First announced in July 2011, the NIH grant is a four-year award that provides annual financial support to NeurOp upon successfully meeting its scientific and development milestones.
“We identified a development compound last year with unique characteristics that modulate over-active NMDA receptors through a specific subunit,” commented Barney Koszalka, Ph.D., CEO of NeurOp. “Our primary focus with this compound is to develop it for treating patients that have suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH).”
NeurOp will initially study its candidate as a prophylactic treatment for SAH patients, which comprise up to seven percent of all stroke victims. Since about half of SAH patients suffer a stroke-like event within 14 days after surgery to repair the cerebral aneurysm, drug administration would begin immediately after surgery and be maintained through this critical period to improve survival and reduce neurological and cognitive insults should a stroke occur. If the compound proves safe and effective in SAH, NeurOp believes this approach can be expanded into other patients at risk of ischemic or traumatic brain injury, providing a much-needed new therapy to address these serious and costly areas of medical need.
This project is supported by Award Number U44NS071657 from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS).
NeurOp contact:
Barney Koszalka, CEO
Phone: 404.941.2350