Haima Co-Founder, Anirban Sen Gupta, receives $3.8M grant from the DoD to support the development of SynthoPlate in collaboration with Haima Therapeutics and University of Pittsburgh
JULY 14, 2020. Cleveland, OH. Anirban Sen Gupta, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, inventor of SynthoPlate and Co-Founder of Haima Therapeutics, has received a $3.8M grant from the Department of Defense Peer Review Medical Research Program Technology/Therapeutic Development Research Award (W81XWH-19-PRMRP-TTDA) titled “Field-Deployable Dried Platelet Surrogate Nanotechnology for Hemorrhage Control in RDCR”. The grant includes a sub-contracts to Haima Therapeutics, who owns the exclusive license to the synthetic platelet technology, and Matthew Neal (Co-investigator) at the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Trauma Research Center. This funding will allow the multi-disciplinary team to evaluate intravenous and intraosseous administration of liquid and lyophilized (dried powder form) SynthoPlate in small and large animal models of traumatic injury. The various funding sources that Haima has been granted perfectly dovetail together to de-risk the SynthoPlate program allowing for rapid translation.
Combat-associated traumatic hemorrhage remains a primary cause of ‘preventable mortality’ in the military. As evidenced by robust clinical studies and dictated by Remote Damage Control Resuscitation (RDCR) principles, timely transfusion of whole blood or its components to mitigate traumatic hemorrhage significantly improves combat casualty survival. However, blood components, especially platelets, have very limited availability far forward to enable effective on-field Hemostatic Resuscitation (HR). A lyophilized, small-volume portable, easily storable, rapidly water-reconstitutable ‘synthetic platelet’ technology can potentially address this critical logistical need. To this end, we have developed a liposome-templated synthetic platelet surrogate technology that has demonstrated systemic safety, targeted hemostatic efficacy and improved survival in proof-of-concept small (mouse, rat) and large (pig) animal trauma models. We have also demonstrated the ability to sterilize SynthoPlate for long term storage (12 months), as well as, the ability to lyophilize SynthoPlate and rapidly reconstitute (in <1 min) it in a small volume of water, without affecting particle stability and platelet-mimetic bioactivity. Building on these accomplishments, we will evaluate the ‘lyophilized SynthoPlate’ technology as an intravenous or intraosseous administrable platelet surrogate product for ‘hemorrhage control’ in RDCR.
Successful development of lyophilized SynthoPlate can provide a field deployable ‘platelet surrogate’ technology for far forward RDCR applications in hemorrhage control, to improve survival in combat trauma. Furthermore, with the advancement of products like the cold-stored or cryopreserved platelets, lyophilized SynthoPlate can potentially be a hemostatic adjunct for ‘boosting’ such natural platelet product performance as well as enable conservation of such products in resource limited scenarios. In addition, in future synergistic development, lyophilized SynthoPlate can allow integration into other hemostatic products like dried plasma and therapeutics (e.g. tranexamic acid) to render enhanced hemorrhage control performance.
“I am excited to continue the development of SynthoPlate as a field deployable freeze-dried synthetic platelet for on-demand transfusion via IV and intraosseous routes in battlefield trauma. The funded grant was designed to evaluate the potential for SynthoPlate meet the needs and requirements of the military medics to treating injured warfighters in the field” Sen Gupta said. “This support from the DoD demonstrates their high level of interest in the rapid development of a field-deployable intravenous hemostatic technology to increase survival of its soldiers and seek to achieve zero preventable deaths.
“Partnering with the Department of Defense on this project and others is the critical support we require to move the SynthoPlate program forward towards clinical use.” said Dr. Michael Bruckman, Haima’s CEO and COO. “The information learned through this research and development grant will help our future clinical trial guidances.”
“I am thrilled to continue this important work in my lab in collaboration with Anirban and Haima" said Dr. Matthew Neal. “There is a clear clinical need in the civilian population for a dried synthetic hemostat, such as the one being evaluated in our labs.” Dr. Neal also serves on Haima’s Scientific Advisory Board.
Sen Gupta has received funding from the Case-Coulter Translational Research Partnership, Case Western Reserve’s Council to Advance Human Health, Ohio Third Frontier Technology Validation and Start-up Fund and the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Center for Accelerated Innovation to conduct extensive lab testing and proof-of-concept studies with SynthoPlate. Additional studies evaluating hemostatic effect and safety are ongoing, funded by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD).
Haima Therapeutics has received funding from Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), and DoD to support the development of its licensed Synthetic Platelet technology. The various funding sources perfectly dovetail together to de-risk the SynthoPlate program allowing for rapid translation.
About Haima Therapeutics
Haima Therapeutics is a pre-clinical stage biotechnology company developing platelet-inspired technologies for the treatment of a variety of blood-related diseases. Haima’s initial focus is on platelet’s primary responsibility, hemostasis, wherein they are developing bio-inspired therapies to mitigate bleeding in multiple therapeutic indications, including traumatic injury, surgery, and thrombocytopenia. Haima’s lead product is called SynthoPlate, a novel, fully-synthetic hemostatic technology that mitigates bleeding by acting at the site of injury and amplifying your body’s natural clotting mechanisms.
Learn more at www.haimatherapeutics.com, follow us on twitter @HaimaThr, or email us at info@haimatherapeutics.com