NeuroVive and to-BBB awarded Eurostars grant for development of stroke therapy

Lund, Sweden / Leiden, the Netherlands, 29 September 2011
NeuroVive Pharmaceutical AB (publ) and to-BBB, the Dutch brain drug delivery
company, have been awarded a grant of ¤1 million through the Eureka Eurostars
program for the joint development of therapies for stroke and other acute
neurological conditions.
 
Stroke is the leading cause of adult disability in Europe, imposing a large
economic burden on individuals and society. Currently, the development of safe
and effective neuroprotective treatments represents the greatest unmet need in
the management of stroke.
 
The Eurostars program has awarded NeuroVive Pharmaceutical and to-BBB
technologies, two highly innovative European Small and Medium Enterprises
(SMEs), a grant of approximately ¤500,000 each. This grant supports their joint
preclinical development program on a potential new treatment for stroke
patients. In this program NeuroVive's cyclosporin A for the treatment of
neurological damage is combined with to-BBB's G-Technology® to enhance delivery
of this drug across the blood-brain barrier. The strategic collaboration between
the two companies commenced in October 2010 and the Eurostars grant solidifies
and accelerates this partnership.
 
"NeuroVive's expertise in the area of acute neurological conditions and their
leading clinical work with NeuroSTAT® in traumatic brain injuries, provides a
strong base for this program." says Pieter Gaillard, CSO of to-BBB, "Since the
blood-brain barrier limits drug penetration in stroke patients when they need it
most, to-BBB's proprietary G-Technology® holds promise to enhance brain delivery
of cyclosporin-based pharmaceuticals for this devastating disorder."
 
"We are proud that our innovative partnership has been recognized by the
Eurostars program. Our project received ranking position 20 out of 348
initiatives in a strong competitive environment. We look forward to accelerate
the partnership of NeuroVive and to-BBB with the aim to generate therapies for
the large stroke market and other acute neurological conditions", says Mikael
Bronnegard, CEO of NeuroVive.
 
About Eurostars
Eurostars aims to stimulate SMEs to lead international collaborative research
and innovation projects by easing access to support and funding. It is fine-
tuned to focus on the needs of SMEs, and specifically targets the development of
new products, processes and services and the access to transnational and
international markets.
 
About NeuroVive
NeuroVive Pharmaceutical AB (publ) is a Swedish drug development company.
NeuroVive's primary mission is to develop drugs for the treatment of acute brain
injury, reperfusion injury in myocardial infarction and other acute injuries
where mitochondrial energy production is critical for clinical outcome. The
company is currently sponsoring a phase III clinical trial with its cyclosporin-
A lipid emulsion in heart attack patients, and is entering into a phase II-III
clinical trial in traumatic brain injury. In addition to the cyclophilin-D
program, NeuroVive is developing additional medications treating mitochondrial
dysfunction (i.e., reduced or limited energy production), and disorders
requiring an increased energy demand such as recovering from extensive surgery
and intensive care, and as well conditions in which augmented energy expenditure
(e.g. obesity) is important.
NeuroVive Pharmaceutical AB (publ) shares are listed on the Swedish trading
platform AktieTorget (www.aktietorget.se). The AktieTorget market is focused on
emerging, entrepreneurial businesses and offers an electronic trading system
supplied by the OMX Nordic stock exchange in Stockholm, Sweden.
 
About to-BBB
to-BBB is a clinical stage biotechnology company focusing on enhanced drug
delivery across the blood-brain barrier. The Company is developing novel
treatments for devastating brain disorders, such as brain cancer,
neurodegenerative diseases and lysosomal storage diseases, by combining existing
drugs with the G-Technology®, to-BBB's proprietary brain delivery platform. This
technology combines the widely used drug delivery approach of pegylated
liposomes with the endogenous tripeptide glutathione as targeting ligand in a
novel and safe way. Together with several top tier pharma and biotech companies,
to-BBB is investigating the versatility of the G-Technology® for drugs that are
unable to reach the brain within a tolerable therapeutic window. to-BBB is
applying the G-Technology® for the delivery of doxorubicin for the treatment of
brain cancer as its internal lead product 2B3-101.
to-BBB is headquartered in the Netherlands at the Leiden Bio Science Park and
established a fully owned subsidiary, to-BBB Taiwan Ltd., in Taipei, Taiwan.
Investors in to-BBB include Aescap Venture, Antea Participaties, Jonghoud
International, the Industrial Bank of Taiwan Management Corporation (IBTM) and a
consortium of informal investors.
 
Contact
Mikael Bronnegard, MD, PhD, Chief Executive Officer
Phone: +46 46 2880110, mobile:+46 702 996264
E-mail:mikael.bronnegard@neurovive.com
NeuroVive Pharmaceutical AB (publ)
Biomedical Center BMC D10, Sölvegatan 19, 221 84 Lund, Sweden
www.neurovive.com
 
Willem van Weperen, MSc, MBA, Chief Executive Officer
Phone: +31 71 3322252, mobile: +31 634 054812
E-mail:vanweperen@toBBB.com
to-BBB technologies BV
Niels Bohrweg 11, 2333 CA Leiden, BioScience Park Leiden, The Netherlands
www.toBBB.com
 
Press Release (PDF): 
http://hugin.info/139945/R/1550723/477474.pdf
 
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Source: NeuroVive Pharmaceutical AB via Thomson Reuters ONE
 
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