BioTime touts preclinical results for hydrogel drug-delivery implant

BioTime Inc. (NYSE:BTX) touted today positive preclinical results for its HyStem hydrogel drug-delivery technology, demonstrating that targeted intracerebral delivery of brain-derived neurotrophic factor may alleviate the effects of ischemic brain injury and reduce neuroinflammation.

The study, published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences, focused on the effects of BDNF on sensorimotor function, infarct volume and neuroinflammation following permanent distal middle cerebral artery occulsion in rats.

The researchers observed that sensorimotor function improved in the rats treated with BioTime’s hydrogel + BDNF, especially six to eight weeks following treatment. The company also reported that infarct volume was reduced in rats treated using the hydrogel drug-delivery implant.

“Results from this study, designed to simulate the clinical needs of human stroke, underscore the ability of our proprietary HyStem delivery technology to target therapy dosing to a specific anatomical site such as to the ischemic core, and minimize dissipation to surrounding tissues,” Francois Binette, SVP & global head of product development at BioTime, said in prepared remarks.

“Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is responsible for regulating neural stem cell differentiation and survival, synapse development, and plays a key role in the neuro-reparative processes that mediate cortical connectivity and promote post-stroke recovery. In this model, utilizing our HyStem delivery platform, BDNF was shown over a three-week period to be continuously released to the surrounding tissue, which could allow for better long-term tissue and functional effects to occur compared to a regular bolus injection,” Binette added.

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