- Dr. Silver’s life work, culminating in NervGen’s NVG-291, is currently in a Phase 1b/2a clinical trial for individuals with spinal cord injury.
Vancouver, Canada, November 8, 2023 – NervGen Pharma Corp. (TSX-V: NGEN; OTCQX: NGENF), a clinical stage biotech company dedicated to developing innovative solutions for the treatment of nervous system damage, announced today that renowned neuroscientist, Dr. Jerry Silver, inventor of NervGen’s lead drug candidate, NVG-291, and NervGen Scientific Advisor, joined Guy Kawasaki on his acclaimed podcast, “Remarkable People”. The in-depth interview is available today online.
Dr. Silver, Professor, Department of Neurosciences at Case Western Reserve University, has spent decades exploring ways to restore function for individuals with spinal cord injuries. He and his research team achieved an unprecedented breakthrough (Nature:13 July 2011) in spurring repair of the nervous system in preclinical models in the development of NVG-291. Dr. Silver’s technological discoveries were licensed to NervGen in 2018. NervGen recently announced the first human subject was dosed in its landmark Phase 1b/2a clinical trial for NVG-291 in spinal cord injury at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab. Initial results from the chronic spinal cord injury cohort are expected in mid-2024.
Guy Kawasaki, a luminary in the tech industry who boasts a storied career that includes serving as the chief evangelist of Apple and of Canva, said, “Dr. Jerry Silver is dubbed the ‘oracle’ because of his bold predictions and breakthrough discoveries of ways to restore function for those with spinal cord injuries. We had a remarkable discussion of how his work has fundamentally changed the neurology community’s understanding of nervous system repair and regeneration.”
Dr. Silver first came to global prominence in The New York Times in an article entitled, “Rat Nerves Repaired and Rejoined With Spine”, which chronicles the first time crushed nerves were repaired. The compound Dr. Silver invented goes beyond spinal cord repair to promote functional recovery and enable nervous system repair in a range of preclinical models, including models of spinal cord injury, peripheral nerve injury, multiple sclerosis and stroke, through enhanced plasticity, axonal regeneration and remyelination.
“Up until the 1990s, it was believed that the central nervous system could not be repaired or that it was even possible to help someone repair a spinal cord injury and recover from their injury,” said Dr. Silver. “We never gave up. We persevered and overturned nearly a century of neuroscience precedence and what was believed to be settled science.”
“Dr. Silver’s incredible scientific discovery turned the research community’s understanding of central nervous system injury and repair on its head,” said Mike Kelly, NervGen’s President & CEO. “The tens of thousands of individuals battling spinal cord injury now have hope to potentially change their lives with NVG-291. We all have to thank Dr. Silver and his dogged tenacity for these incredible breakthroughs.”
About Guy Kawasaki’s Remarkable People
Guy Kawasaki is on a mission to make people remarkable. His Remarkable People podcast features interviews with remarkable people such as Jane Goodall, Marc Benioff, Woz, Kristi Yamaguchi, and Bob Cialdini. Every episode will make you more remarkable. Using his decades of experience in Silicon Valley as a venture capitalist and advisor to the top entrepreneurs in the world, Guy’s questions come from a place of curiosity and passion for technology, start-ups, entrepreneurship, and marketing. Listeners of the Remarkable People podcast will learn from some of the most successful people in the world with practical tips and inspiring stories that will help you be more remarkable.
About NVG-291
NervGen holds exclusive worldwide rights to NVG-291, a first-in-class therapeutic peptide targeting mechanisms that interfere with nervous system repair. NVG-291 is derived from the intracellular wedge domain of the receptor type protein tyrosine phosphatase sigma (PTPσ). NVG-291-R, a rodent analog of NVG-291, has been shown to promote nervous system repair and functional recovery in preclinical models of spinal cord injury (acute and chronic intervention), peripheral nerve injury, multiple sclerosis and stroke, through enhanced plasticity, axonal regeneration, and remyelination. NervGen has initiated a Phase 1b/2a placebo-controlled proof-of-concept trial (NCT05965700) to evaluate the efficacy of NVG-291 in two separate cohorts of individuals with cervical spinal cord injury: chronic (1-10 years post-injury) and subacute (10-49 days post-injury), given demonstrated efficacy in preclinical models of both chronic and acute spinal cord injury. Initial results are expected in mid-2024.
About NervGen
NervGen (TSX-V: NGEN, OTCQX: NGENF) is a clinical stage biotech company dedicated to developing innovative treatments that enable the nervous system to repair itself following damage, whether due to injury or disease. NervGen’s lead drug candidate, NVG-291, is being evaluated in a Phase 1b/2a clinical trial. The Company’s initial target indication is spinal cord injury. For more information, go to www.nervgen.com and follow NervGen on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook for the latest news on the Company.
Contacts
Huitt Tracey, Corporate Communications
htracey@nervgen.com
604.537.2094
Nancy Thompson, Vorticom Public Relations
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212.532.2208
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Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This news release may contain “forward-looking information” and “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation. Such forward-looking statements and information herein include, but are not limited to, the Company’s current and future plans, expectations and intentions, results, levels of activity, performance, goals or achievements, or any other future events or developments constitute forward-looking statements, and the words “may”, “will”, “would”, “should”, “could”, “expect”, “plan”, “intend”, “trend”, “indication”, “anticipate”, “believe”, “estimate”, “predict”, “likely” or “potential”, or the negative or other variations of these words or other comparable words or phrases, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements relating to: the subject matter to be discussed in the podcast; the objectives, timing and study design of the clinical development of NVG-291 including the planned single site Phase 1b/2a clinical trial in spinal cord injury; the belief that NVG-291’s activity is a promising target for promoting functional recovery and reducing the clinical effects of nervous system damage through multiple mechanisms; the potential ability of NVG-291 to change the lives of individuals battling spinal cord injury and the creation of innovative treatments of nervous system damage due to trauma or disease.
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