BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Highland Instruments, Inc., (Highland) today announced continuation of award for a multi-year SBIR Grant from the National Institutes of Health National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NIH-NINDS) for the clinical evaluation of Highlands ElectroSonic Stimulation (ESStim) technology for the treatment of Parkinsons Disease (PD)1. The main academic partner collaborator in this grant and location of the clinical trial will be Spaulding Rehabilitation (Spaulding) Hospitals Laboratory of Neuromodulation (Boston). Felipe Fregni, MD, PhD, MPH, will be the Lead Clinical Investigator. Dr. Fregni is the Director of the Laboratory of Neuromodulation at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and Associate Professor of PM&R and Neurology at Harvard Medical School.
Bill Edelman, Chairman of the Board for Highland, commented, We are thrilled to have received a continuation award of the SBIR Grant for the clinical evaluation of ESStim in PD patients following the successful completion of a Phase 1 study in 24 patients. We also recently completed an initial clinical trial investigating the potential benefits of ESStim for the management of osteoarthritis pain and look forward to further expanding the clinical capabilities of this technology in Parkinsons disease. Dr. Fregni is a pioneer in the field of noninvasive brain stimulation, having conducted groundbreaking trials exploring neuromodulation treatments for chronic pain, Parkinson's disease, and stroke.
Timothy Wagner, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer and Founder for Highland commented, Following years of extensive pre-clinical development, I am excited to see the potential benefits of ESStim being brought into the clinic. Dr. Wagner continued, We hope that ESStim will overcome limitations of other reported non-invasive brain stimulation technologies.
Dr.Felipe Fregnicommented, "Receivinga continuation ofthis highly competitive grant is encouraging for the development of this novel method of stimulation as wecontinue toinvestigate the clinical utility of ESStim as a possible therapy for PD.Our preliminary analysis in a series of 24 PD patientsundergoing ESStim treatment demonstratedstatistically significant improvement in key clinical measurementsemployedto manage PD patients.Inanotherinitial clinicalevaluationwe conducted of patients with osteoarthritis undergoing ESStim therapy,preliminary analysis showedalargereduction inpainscores relative to baseline following the 5thday of stimulation, with significant effects lasting up to 4 weeks post-stimulation.Dr. Fregni continued,The additional award of thisNIH grant will be important to advance our knowledge of noninvasive brain stimulation and we are glad that our Laboratory of Neuromodulation at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital is a critical component of this investigation.We will be shortly reporting our PD clinical resultsfrom the first phase of this research.We look forward to furtherclinical evaluation of ESStim in this collaborative grant."
Highland previously reported on October 23, 2013, Institutional Review Board (IRB) Approval to initiate clinical evaluation of non-invasive brain stimulation technologies in patients with Parkinsons Disease.
Highland previously reported on July 30, 2013, award of Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Grant for clinical evaluation of non-invasive brain stimulation technologies.
During October 2011, Highland initiated a clinical evaluation of ESStim in patients with chronic pain due to osteoarthritis.
On December 16, 2010, Highland received Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital to initiate clinical evaluation ESStim for the management of chronic pain due to osteoarthritis.
About Parkinsons disease