New Collaboration Could Revolutionize Treatment of Chronic Spinal Cord Injuries

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Wednesday, October 18, 2023

In January 2023, Israel and Canada demonstrated a strong commitment to innovation, with the countries’ national funding bodies allocating funding for organizations collaborating on international R&D projects. Colloquially known as Eureka, fields for funding included agri-food technology, low carbon economy technology, quantum computing, and health and biosciences, amongst others.

One might think that a program like this would provide capital from Israel-based companies like networking firms Allot Ltd. (NASDAQ: ALLT) and AudioCodes or any number of biotechs, including Polypid (NASDAQ: PYPD) and BioLineRx (NASDAQ: BLRX), but it was NurExone Biologic Inc. (TSX-Venture: NRX) that snared some funding for its leading-edge tech.

Trading around 28 Canadian cents per share, NurExone has a market capitalization of just CDN$13.3 million.

NurExone is a pharmaceutical company developing an exosome-based platform for biologically guided ExoTherapy to be delivered, non-invasively, to patients who suffered traumatic spinal cord injuries (SCI). ExoTherapy was conceptually demonstrated in rat models at the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, returning function to paralyzed rear legs of the animal. NurExone is translating the treatment to humans and holds an exclusive worldwide license from the Technion and Tel Aviv University for the development and commercialization of the technology.

On October 11, NurExone announced it was awarded 1 million New Israeli Shekels (NIS) (approximately CDN$350,000 or 237,000 euros) by the Israel Innovation Authority as part of the Eureka program. The grant is for a collaboration with Toronto-based Inteligex Inc. to develop an innovative hybrid therapy tailored for the complex chronic SCI market.

Inteligex has developed a novel targeted human stem cell platform for the treatment of  diseases of the Central Nervous System (CNS) that replaces key cell types lost due to traumatic injury or neurodegeneration. Inteligex is tasked with bringing this novel human stem cell platform to market and clinic for diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis, Traumatic Brain Injury, Stroke, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and its lead indication, SCI.

The collaboration is the intersection of two compelling technologies as a means for new hope for patients with SCI, where therapeutic options are few and successes are far between. Cumulatively, the companies will offer Inteligex’s innovative stem cell treatment with NurExone’s exosome-based drug delivery.

Working together provides an opportunity for NurExone to expand into research of ExoTherapies for chronic SCI. The main difference between acute and chronic SCI is that acute SCI is a new injury, usually caused by trauma, while chronic SCI is an ongoing condition (that may have been caused by acute SCI). Acute SCI is often characterized by spinal shock, which is a temporary period of paralysis and loss of sensation below the level of the injury. Chronic injuries involve inflammation, cell death, and the formation of a cavity within the spinal cord, encased by scar tissue that disrupts nerve signal flow. Chronic SCI can cause paralysis and loss of sensation, and it can also cause other problems, such as pain, spasticity, and bladder and bowel problems.

Recovering motor function after paralysis induced by chronic injury is exceptionally challenging, and a hybrid therapy may have potential for a significant step forward in this field.

“NurExone aims to lead in functional recovery for both acute and chronic segments of the multi-billion-dollar spinal cord injury market,” said Dr. Lior Shaltiel, CEO of NurExone, in a press release on the cash injection. “We are honored to receive the IIA grant after a rigorous project review and are grateful for the support and trust they have placed in us and our excellent partner Inteligex,” he added.

Inteligex CEO Dr. Paul Bradshaw chimed in, saying the collaborative alliance has the potential to revolutionize how chronic SCI is treated.

NurExone has budgeted a total of 1.69 million euros for a planned two-year collaboration with Inteligex. The one million NIS grant will be a big, non-dilutive source of cash towards this partnership over the next year.

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NurExone Biologic Inc. (TSX-Venture: NRX) Full Corporate Write-Up: Click Here.

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