Innovation Pharmaceuticals believes U.K. launch of MRgLITT for refractory focal epilepsy substantiates its investment in advanced laser technology of BT BeaMedical
WAKEFIELD, MA / October 26, 2022 Innovation Pharmaceuticals (OTCQB:IPIX) (“the Company”), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, is pleased to provide shareholders insight on a substantial industry development that is relevant to Innovation Pharmaceuticals’ investment in BT BeaMedical Technologies Ltd. (“BeaMed”).
On Saturday, October 22, 2022, the United Kingdom’s National Health System (NHS) announced the launch of a program to provide MR-guided laser interstitial thermal therapy (MRgLITT) for children and adults with refractory focal epilepsy who haven’t responded to conventional drugs. The first surgeries are scheduled to take place early in 2023. The implications for introducing laser therapy for epilepsy were summed up by the NHS Medical Director for Specialised Services, characterizing the technology as a “game-changing breakthrough.”
Conventional neurosurgery for epilepsy is limited and invasive, translating to thousands of patients not qualifying for or electing the treatment, which involves a craniotomy and excision of the part of the brain causing seizures. Often, the problematic area is inaccessible, eliminating neurosurgery as a viable treatment option. For those able to undergo surgery, typical recovery includes a week in the hospital and three months of recovery at home, a period characterized by pain management and infection risk.
Fiber optic laser therapy offers a monumental improvement in epilepsy care. This requires making a hole approximately 1.5 millimeters (about the width of a grain of rice) in the skull, allowing clinicians to better target areas of the brain, reduce risks, and shrink recovery times for patients, typically down to less than a week.
BeaMed’s novel laser technology is similar in concept to the one being advanced in the U.K., but contains additional features designed to enhance, in real-time, control of energy distribution over an extended time to optimally treat epileptic focal points. Differentiation in BeaMed’s technology revolves around shaping of the energy such that it can treat the lesions better in terms of directionality and matching of the energy to the area while avoiding non-targeted structures, which can be critical in many cases up to the point of avoiding treatment because of the possible danger to nearby brain tissue.
If approved for epilepsy, BeaMed technology likely would increase the number of candidate patients since it is able to target larger areas of the brain. Increased volume of treatment in epilepsy has also been associated with improved outcomes.
The Company believes that the NHS news further substantiates its investment in BeaMed and the importance of novel laser therapy approaches, which we expect to become the next standard of care for epilepsy. BeaMed is at the forefront of the industry with its next-generation laser system that it hopes one day can be a safe and effective treatment option for the 70 million people worldwide suffering from the disease.
More information on BeaMed can be found on its company website and via a presentation by BeaMed management introducing the company, at the links below.
BeaMed company website:
www.beam-med.com
BeaMed management introduction to company:
www.youtube.com/channel/UCyoklsj7NfFMpPzC81sXzHg