Ramona Adams
California-based biotechnology firm Lpath has secured a two-year, $1.45 million grant from the Defense Department to examine the use of a monoclonal antibody drug as a potential treatment for neuropathic pain associated with traumatic brain injury.
Lpath said Monday it will conduct preclinical studies to assess the effect of the company’s experimental drug Lpathomab on pain that follows neurotrauma as the company seeks to validate the findings from a Stanford University research team’s demonstration of the antibody on an animal model.
According to the company, healthy participants who took Lpathomab during a Phase 1a placebo-controlled study tolerated the drug without serious side effects.
Lpath discovered the antibody through a drug-discovery engine the company designed to identify bioactive signaling lipids that are involved in neuropathic pain, cancer, neurotrauma and inflammatory disorders.
The Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs supports the drug research effort through the Defense Medical Research and Development Program.
