Portfolio: Development status
Product: EG110A
Our lead asset, vector construct EG110A, has been designed to express a botulinum toxin fragment in bladder sensory neurons, whilst preserving motor neuron and muscle cell function, for treatment of NDO. EG110A has shown Proof-of-Concept efficacy in animal models and an IND data package is being prepared for submission.
Neurogenic Detrusor Overactivity:
A heavy patient burden with significant economic cost
The company’s primary focus is to treat a common urinary bladder dysfunction caused by spinal cord injury (SCI) and other neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS). This is the neurological disease known as neurogenic detrusor overactivity (NDO), responsible for various degrees of incontinence, as well as urinary tract infections and renal (kidney) damage than can lead to death in 5-10% of SCI population. NDO affects almost all (85-90%) of patients with SCI1 , and half of those with MS2 , and impacts on an individual’s independence and dignity. Over time, most patients do not respond to the standard pharmacological approaches to treatment, such as oral antimuscarinics or botulinum toxin injections. All those treatments aim at inhibiting the bladder muscle itself and there is therefore the associated need to empty the bladder using catheterization which is a high-risk factor for urinary infections.
1 Hamid, R., Averbeck, M.A., Chiang, H. et al. Epidemiology and pathophysiology of neurogenic bladder after spinal cord injury. World J Urol 36, 1517–1527 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00345-018-2301-z
2 Phé V et al., nrurol.2016.53 doi:10.1038, Management of neurogenic bladder in patients with MS
Medical need
Even with current available therapies, NDO remains a high medical burden, starting with induced urinary tract infections, which is the primary cause of hospitalization after an SCI.
EG110A for NDO is thus a major market opportunity, in the range USD 0.6bn to USD 1.5bn, as 80-90% of patients with spinal cord injuries are treated for bladder management.
15% - 20%
of patients are admitted each year post SCI3
$12K - $14K
estimated standard of care costs per year without hospitalization costs4
$10K
Hospitalization median costs5
3 Crescenze, I. M., Lenherr, S. M., Myers, J. B., Elliott, S. P., Welk, B., O'Dell, D., & Stoffel, J. T. (2021). Self-Reported Urological Hospitalizations or Emergency Room Visits in a Contemporary Spinal Cord Injury Cohort. The Journal of urology, 205(2), 477–482. https://doi.org/10.1097/JU.0000000000001386
4 Carlson et al., doi:10.1016/j.clinthera.2013.02.020, Estimating the Cost-Effectiveness of OnabotulinumtoxinA for Neurogenic Detrusor Overactivity in the United States
5 Belinda J. Gabbe, Andrew Nunn - Injury, Int. J. Care Injured 47 (2016) 1847–1855
Our solution
Using the characteristics of our nrHSV-1, our vector selectively silences the afferent nerves responsible for the aberrant behaviour of the neurogenic bladder. Preserving the ability of the bladder to contract, we want to offer patient a long-lasting treatment that restores continence and preserves volitional voiding either naturally or stimulated.
Product: EG132A