InVivo: Developing the Cure for Paralysis
Nobel Laureate Sir Richard Roberts Ph.D. on InVivo Therapeutics' Technology and Future Treatments Description: InVivo Therapeutics Holdings Corp. is a medical device company founded to develop and commercialize groundbreaking technologies for the treatment of spinal cord injuries (SCI).
Products: InVivo's technologies encompass multiple strategies involving biomaterials, FDA-approved drugs, growth factors, and human neural stem cells (hNSCs). The company is developing three products:
- Biopolymer Scaffold to Treat SCI: A novel surgical device designed for implantation into an acute SCIlesion.The scaffold is developed from a biodegradable and biocompatible polymer approved by the FDA for surgical sutures.
- Injectable Hydrogel for Local Drug Delivery: An injectable hydrogel designed for local controlled release of drugs to counter act the inflammatory environment.
- Biopolymer Scaffold Seeded with Autologous Human Neural Stem Cells: Extends the biopolymer platform technology to treat both acute and chronic SCI.
Accomplishments: Data on InVivo’s technology was first published in 2002 and has since been demonstrated to successfully promote functional recovery following traumatic spinal cord injury in several models including rodent and non-human primate models. Data from InVivo’s pilot non-human primate study was published in the Journal of Neuroscience Methods in 2010. A Human Pilot Study is planned for Q4/2011 in Atlanta.
Patent rights that are the basis for InVivo’s products are under an exclusive, worldwide license from Children’s Medical Center Corporation and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. At present, the Company has 10 issued and 3 pending US patents and 67 issued and 34 international pending patents.
Founders: The Company was founded in 2005 on the basis of proprietary technology coinvented by Robert Langer, ScD., Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Joseph P. Vacanti, M.D., who is affiliated with Massachusetts General Hospital.
Financing: $12.5 million led by Spencer Trask Ventures in 2010.
Reverse Merger: Led by Spencer Trask Ventures October 2010.
Recent News: InVivo Therapeutics Congratulates Robert S. Langer As The Recipient Of The American Chemical Society’s Priestley Medal (July 18, 2011)
Analyst Coverage and Reports: Zacks Investment Research Coverage of NVIV (July 27, 2011), ProActive Research Report on NVIV (August 8, 2011)
