Grant: Project Grant

Traumatic injury to the spinal cord and brain (as in stroke) is devastating, resulting in tissue degeneration and permanent disability. No therapies currently exist to replace damaged tissue or restore lost function. The body responds by forming an aggregate scar, which limits continued tissue degeneration initially, but also inhibits regeneration at later stages. Chondroitinase abc (or ChASE) is a potent, yet fragile, enzyme that can degrade this aggregate scar when delivered locally for a prolonged time. We re-engineered ChASE to be more stable and designed a novel strategy for its local and sustained delivery to the spinal cord and brain. We now propose to advance our new technology, which we call ChASE37-AR (37 for the number of point mutations and AR for affinity release) towards the clinic. We have 3 distinct patents that are the basis for this product, a strategy for its reproducible production and in vivo efficacy testing planned in both small and large animal models of disease. These studies will form the basis for the incorporation of Chase Biotherapeutics - a spin-off company from the University of Toronto. To achieve success, we bring neurosurgeons, neuroscientists and biomedical engineers, each with distinct expertise, together with experts in regulatory, finance and entrepreneurship who will guide our business strategy.