Health and Healthcare

InVivo Continues to Rally With New SCI Treatment Strategy

Thinkstock

InVivo Therapeutics Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: NVIV) has made massive strides over the course of this year in the development of its spinal cord injury (SCI) treatment. It is now adding to these gains and running with the bulls on Wednesday morning with news of its most recent strategy.

The company announced a new strategy for the treatment of chronic SCI. InVivo will focus its research efforts for chronic SCI on Bioengineered Neural Trails. Bioengineered Neural Trails are injectable combinations of biomaterials and neural stem cells (NSCs) delivered using minimally invasive surgical instrumentation and techniques to create trails across the chronic injury site.

To support this strategy, InVivo has entered into agreements with the University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego), and James Guest, M.D., Ph.D., to expand the company’s intellectual property portfolio. The company entered into an exclusive license agreement with UC San Diego and an assignment agreement with Dr. Guest, with patents issued for both agreements.

Tom Ulich, M.D., chief scientific officer of InVivo, said:

Our goal is to restore neuronal connectivity and thereby promote neurological recovery in people with chronic SCI. Our minimally-invasive therapeutic approach is to bridge the spinal cord lesion at the time of implantation with a trail of NSCs delivered in an injectable and biodegradable soft, gel-like scaffold. We look forward to presenting our preclinical results in the spinal cords of small and large animals during the Key Opinion Leader Event and Company Update on Thursday.

Mark Perrin, CEO and chairman of InVivo, added:

We are excited about our novel Bioengineered Neural Trails program for the treatment of chronic spinal cord injury. The newly secured patents along with our provisional patent application provide the intellectual property foundation for our Bioengineered Neural Trails program.

So far in 2015, InVivo has outperformed the market, with the stock up 88% year to date. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock is up nearly 150%.

Shares of InVivo were up 5.5% at $10.50 just after Wednesday’s opening bell. Its consensus analyst price target is $25.00, and the 52-week trading range is $3.52 to $19.68.

ALSO READ: 6 Analyst Stock Picks With Massive Upside Targets

Essential Tips for Investing (Sponsored)

A financial advisor can help you understand the advantages and disadvantages of investment properties. Finding a qualified financial advisor doesn’t have to be hard. SmartAsset’s free tool matches you with up to three financial advisors who serve your area, and you can interview your advisor matches at no cost to decide which one is right for you. If you’re ready to find an advisor who can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.

Investing in real estate can diversify your portfolio. But expanding your horizons may add additional costs. If you’re an investor looking to minimize expenses, consider checking out online brokerages. They often offer low investment fees, helping you maximize your profit.

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.