Ontario Brain Institute Awards Research Grant To EastGate Acquisitions

EastGate Acquisitions announced that it has received a research grant from the Ontario Brain Institute for the development of its Lorazepam Spray as treatment for epileptic seizures in outpatient settings.

The grant will enable the company to further study the administration of a transmucosal Lorazepam Spray as a non-invasive solution for seizures. The investigational spray is an oral, low volume, anti-convulsant formulation of Lorazepam, which can be administered in hospital, ambulatory, or home settings. The drug can be delivered directly to the blood stream via buccal and sublingual absorption through the mucosal lining of the mouth.

Anna Gluskin, CEO of EastGate, said, “Our innovative technology platform based on a self-nanoemulsion formulation will directly address patient needs for fast onset of treatment and encourage self-administration with the goal of minimizing hospital care and… massive health care costs facing today's healthcare system.”

Roughly 150,000 cases of prolonged epileptic seizures occur each year, and 400,000 patients experience repetitive or cluster seizures every year. Together, these lead to more than 40,000 deaths every year in the U.S. alone. Standard of care for status epilepticus and repetitive seizures necessitates hospitalization and intravenous administration of anticonvulsant drugs in emergency treatments. Delay in proper treatment during a seizure can lead to a higher risk of mortality for affected patients.

The OBI grant continues the funding submitted to the Institute under the Epilepsy Discovery Project 2013 Continuing Research Study Proposal. The company previously announced its collaboration with Dr. Peter Carlen, leading neurologist at Toronto Western Hospital, University Health Network, for the clinical investigation of the intraoral Lorazepam Spray. Dr. Carlen will serves as the principal investigator of the trial. Carlen and his team will be working to further develop the oral anti-convulsant spray in order to accelerate the onset of anticonvulsive effects upon administration.