SOURCE: NeuroInvestment

Traumatic Brain Injury Reviewed by NeuroInvestment

CARDIFF, CA--(Marketwire - February 3, 2010) - NeuroInvestment has released its February issue, which reviews the status of therapeutics being developed for the treatment of traumatic brain injury. TBI continues to be an underrecognized epidemic in the developed world, with estimates of TBI incidence as high as 1.5 million cases annually in the United States alone. The modal patient is a young adult male, the trauma often the result of either motor vehicle accidents or sports injuries. There is no pharmacotherapy that has been definitively shown to provide neuroprotection or regeneration in TBI, and indeed the legacy of multiple clinical trial failures has led to the general departure of larger pharma companies from the TBI area. In the past few years, in response to the high proportion of TBI amongst wounded veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the US Department of Defense has become a vital source of funding for what is left of the TBI field in the US.

There is now increased reason for optimism due to recent successes in some midstage clinical testing of TBI treatments. Germany's KeyNeurotek recently announced positive results from a small Phase II trial of their CB1/CB2 agonist TBI drug, and plans to enter Phase II/III. Neuren Pharma has received US Army funding covering the full cost of the 260pt Phase II trial that they are initiating with their neuroprotectant, NNZ-2566. IV-progesterone has shown promise in two Phase II trials, and is now going into two large-scale Phase III trials; one under the sponsorship of Besins Healthcare, the other funded by the NIH. StemCell Therapeutics is initiating a pilot study with their promising neuroprotectant, already in Phase II testing for stroke. These developments demonstrate the renewed viability of therapeutics programs addressing TBI, which is one of the unalloyed billion-dollar range blockbuster opportunities still very much in existence in the CNS field.

The February issue of NeuroInvestment also includes a summary review of KeyNeurotek, as well as commentary regarding the changing prioritization of CNS drug development within the shifting landscape of the major pharmaceutical companies.

NeuroInvestment is the independent, monthly review of the neurotherapeutics area. A one-year corporate subscription is $1800, email or hardcopy. Add $250 for dual delivery, add $50 for airmail delivery outside North America. A three month trial subscription is US$600. The February issue is available as a single-issue purchase for US$300.

NI Research is the leading publisher of independent research on the neurotherapeutics industry. NI Research has published NeuroInvestment since 1995; the Private CNS Company Review since 2003; and CNS Disorders/Therapeutics since 2007. NI Research also provides licensing consultation and research for large and small pharmaceutical firms. NI Research has developed an unmatched information base regarding both publicly and privately-held neuro-oriented companies.