Baby steps – preventing brain damage at birth – The West Australian
“Already a recent preclinical study showed a 40 per cent reduction in brain tissue death when their novel drug ARG-007 is used alongside the hypothermia treatment.
If approved, the drug will be quick and easy to administer in any setting, which will help babies with HIE who live in remote locations and underdeveloped countries — something Sean and Claire are grateful for.
“We are hopeful this drug will make an impact whether it is improving quality of life, reducing cerebral palsy or reducing infant deaths,” Dr Edwards says.”
The West Australian newspaper’s TODAY Health and Medicine on 8 December, Katie Hampson speaks with a family affected by hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE) and Dr Adam Edwards, postdoctoral researcher in the Perron Institute stroke research group about latest research and the spin out bioech company Argenica Therapeutics, established as a spin out of Perron Institute and UWA to drive forward the clinical application of the drug developed for adult stroke and potentially infant stroke or HIE.
You can read The West Australian article (with a login) via this link: https://thewest.com.au/lifestyle/healthmedicine/preventing-brain-damage-at-birth-c-4701910.
And see an excerpt below:
“Currently, the standard treatment is therapeutic hypothermia, which involves cooling the baby’s core body temperature, but this is generally only available in major city hospitals and was a key reason AJ had to be flown to PCH.
Doctors needed to cool him for almost 72 hours, while also controlling his frequent seizures, in an attempt to save his life and reduce any further brain injury.
However, 46 per cent of infants gain no benefit from therapeutic hypothermia.
Dr Edwards says this is why developing new interventions is vital and the reason his Perron Institute team has been pulling such long hours in the laboratory.
He says when they discovered that a drug they are currently developing for adult stroke also showed promising results in preclinical trials for infant brain injury, it was an exciting moment.
To help prevent the new drug hitting roadblocks, Perron Institute and UWA spun out the bio-technology company Argenica Therapeutics, which listed on the stock exchange in June, so it could raise the money needed to speed up the development of this therapy and other promising treatments in the field of neurology.
Already a recent preclinical study showed a 40 per cent reduction in brain tissue death when their novel drug ARG-007 is used alongside the hypothermia treatment.
If approved, the drug will be quick and easy to administer in any setting, which will help babies with HIE who live in remote locations and underdeveloped countries — something Sean and Claire are grateful for.
“We are hopeful this drug will make an impact whether it is improving quality of life, reducing cerebral palsy or reducing infant deaths,” Dr Edwards says.”