CU Professor Helping Those with Severe Epilepsy

June 18, 2019

An approved epileptic drug to treat seizures has been modified by a University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus professor and is currently being used in a clinical trial in Australia for medically refractory epilepsy.

Tom Anchordoquy, PhD, professor at the CU Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Dan Abrams, MD, CEO of Cerebral Therapeutics, have developed a proprietary reformulated specialty pharmaceutical, which bypasses the blood-brain barrier using a chronic implantable infusion system, to improve the lives of patients with severe medically refractory epilepsy. The two have worked together for over a decade developing drug formulations to be injected directly into the brain where it is needed.

Cerebral Therapeutics is conducting a proof-of-concept study in adult patients at Australia’s University of Melbourne using its proprietary anti-epileptic specialty formulation via direct intracerebroventricular (ICV) administration. This proof-of-concept study has demonstrated potentially enhanced efficacy and reduced toxicity in patients with medically refractory epilepsy. Proceeds from the financing will be used to file an IND with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to initiate a Phase 2 clinical trial.