Injectable magnetic particle scaffold for spinal cord regeneration

Every year 17,000 people in the US suffer a spinal cord injury (SCI). There are no effective treatments, and less than 1% of victims experience full recovery. Rapid treatment is essential to stabilize the patient, prevent further damage and reduce lifetime recovery costs.  It is essential to not only establish a positive growth environment but also to provide structures that offer directional guidance for neural regrowth after injury. Implantable scaffolds are considered a very promising approach to help regenerate neurons after SCI, and have been demonstrated as safe in clinical trials.  However, it is currently impossible to generate and put in place a scaffold that is minimally invasive and conforms to the shape of the injury site, which is typically different for every patient.  NeuroPair’s solution is an injectable, self-assembling scaffold (US patent 11,083,907).  Within minutes, magnetically aligning nanoparticles in a hydrogel create a perfectly shape-conforming fiber scaffold in the injury site that supports neuronal growth while directionally aligned fibers guide the regrowth.  NeuroPair’s first product will be a treatment for the stabilization of subacute spinal cord injuries, such as after ejection seat use or blast trauma.  If successful, treatment will be extended to patients with chronic spinal cord injury.