DOD Grant $1.9M in Study of Blood Substitute used in TBI
Synthetic Blood International, Inc. manufacturers of Oxycyte™ announced that The United States Department of Defense has approved a $1.9 million grant to M. Ross Bullock, M.D., Ph.D., of the University Of Miami Miller School Of Medicine, Department of Neurosurgery. Bullock is the initial researcher for the planned Phase IIb clinical trial with Oxycyte™ for the treatment of traumatic brain injury (TBI). Oxycyte a per-fluorocarbon (PFC) therapeutic oxygen carrier and blood substitute. “With this grant, we will be able to double our planned enrollment in the Phase IIb trial to 200 TBI patients, providing a larger statistical basis for evaluating Oxycyte’s effectiveness as a treatment in this indication,” stated Dr Bullock “We are scheduled to commence the double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase IIb trial in April of this year.” Positive data from the Oxycyte pilot study in TBI patients demonstrated that it was more effective in increasing brain oxygen levels and helping other brain chemistries with favorable clinical outcomes in TBI patients instead of just breathing 100 percent or 50 percent oxygen. Most TBI victims die or remain severely disabled due to inadequate early cerebral oxygenation.
