InVivo Therapeutics Development Portfolio
In Vivo Therapeutics’ platform technologies provide a novel approach to the treatment of spinal cord injuries (SCI). Of all organizations whose
primary focus is spinal cord repair, InVivo has an unmatched development portfolio that will continue to expand in the next few years.
We believe that our development platforms provide us with a two-pronged product portfolio that can be used individually or in multiple combinations.
- Polymer-based medical device for the repair of spinal cord tissue for open and closed wound spinal cord injuries.
- Tissue engineering that utilizes human neural stem cells for spinal cord injury repair
Dr. Langer and Dr. Teng’s polymer-based research published in 2002 signaled the beginning of their search for more effective methods to treat SCI. Their efforts have since resulted in new fruitful outcomes that laid down the foundation for the science we are developing today.
Background Information: The abstract from our 2002 research:
We have designed an implant modeled after the intact spinal cord consisting of a multi-component polymer scaffold. Implantation of the scaffold into an adult rat model of SCI promoted long-term improvement in function relative to a lesion-control group. At 70 days post injury, animals implanted with scaffold-plus-cells exhibited coordinated, weight-bearing hind limb stepping. Histology and immunocytochemical analysis suggested that this recovery might be attributable partly to a reduction in tissue loss from secondary injury processes as well as in diminished glial scarring. Tract tracing demonstrated corticospinal tract fibers passing through the injury epicenter to the caudal cord, a phenomenon not present in untreated groups. Together with evidence of enhanced local GAP-43 expression not seen in controls, these findings suggest a possible regeneration component. These results may suggest a new approach to penetrating SCI and, more broadly, may serve as a prototype for multidisciplinary strategies against complex neurological problems, including contusion SCI.
1) Polymer-based medical device for the repair of spinal cord tissue
The abstract of our 2005 research
Novel Polymers for Treatment of Spinal Cord Injury
We have accomplished 5 main goals:
- Demonstrated therapeutic efficacy of using polymer alone to treat penetrating SCI.
- Designed a feasible plan to use the same kind of polymer to treat contusion SCI.
- Cultured human neural stem cells via our novel polymer that can augment neural repair potential.
- Implantation of our newly devised polymer scaffolds tailored to spinal cord injury pathology alone or seeded with human neural stem cells can minimize acute pathology and secondary injury, as well as promote post-SCI neural survival/ regeneration, leading to functional improvements.
- Novel combination of our polymer and stem cell technologies with a recently identified drug that is safe for humans may further promote neuroplasticity and improve treatment of experimental spinal cord injury.
2) Tissue engineering that utilizes human neural stem cells for spinal cord injury repair
We are focused on molecular mechanisms that underlie or enhance experimental therapeutic strategies of human neural stem cells for the frequent and challenging issues of experimental spinal cord injury (SCI) and neurodegenerative diseases that are clinically relevant. In addition, we have a primary focus on using polymer scaffolds to potentiate neural stem cell (NSC) mediated repair of the injured spinal cord through mitigating neurodegeneration and creating a regeneration-promoting environment.