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[Apparelyzed]

New Therapy for Spinal Cord Injuries
Wednesday November 2, 11:37 am ET

WORCESTER, Mass., Nov. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Massachusetts-based company Total ReCord, Inc., an early-stage company founded for the specific purpose of developing and commercializing new therapies for neurodegenerative diseases, plans to begin clinical trials in early 2006 with a new treatment for patients with spinal cord injuries.

RMx™, Total ReCord's lead product, is a new non-cellular, non-drug based class of biotherapeutics that draws on the body's natural regenerative processes to stimulate the growth of new central nervous system tissue. "RMx is a promising alternative to embryonic stem cells that may have significant potential in the treatment of spinal cord injuries," says Dr. John McDonald, the Executive VP and Director of the International Center for Spinal Cord Injury at the Kennedy Krieger Institute.

RMx's regenerative matrix is a new method of treatment for spinal cord injuries that has shown promising results in preclinical studies in animal models. Total ReCord has created RMx based on the principle of suppressing certain wound healing processes that interfere with central nervous system (CNS) tissue regeneration, while enhancing the desirable traits of these processes.

RMx first works to clean out the site of damaged tissue and allow for new cell growth. It then slows the development of scar tissue that can inhibit the regeneration of surviving axons while simultaneously promoting new blood vessel formation. Both of these processes are crucial for the formation of new, healthy CNS tissue. Furthermore, RMx has certain stimulatory effects on the formation and elongation of new neurites. After this new tissue is grown, it can be trained to function in the body to restore movement, even weight- bearing steps in patients with spinal cord injuries.

In pre-clinical studies, animals that had experienced traumatic damage to their spinal cords and were initially completely paralyzed were soon able to move about after treatment with RMx. In most cases, they were able to make weight-bearing steps. Total ReCord is confident that the human implants that have been successfully used in their animal studies will be effective in treating patients with spinal cord injuries. However, the extent of recovery that can be achieved with RMx in human patients will only become evident after the human clinical studies. RMx has also been found to have no toxic side- effects in animals.

Founder and CEO Jan-Eric Ahlfors is hopeful that following the first phases of human clinical trials, RMx will be placed on fast-track status for FDA approval and may soon be applied even to conditions that have kept patients permanently wheelchair-bound for decades. Total ReCord's innovations can potentially provide restored movement to victims of paralysis, stroke, and Multiple Sclerosis.

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