V-10 is a peptide-based material that has been developed through10+ years of research. It consists of a novel sequence of 31 amino acids with several domains serving unique purposes and is known as a multi-domain peptide. This peptide is easily produced by solid phase synthesis, in the lab. The peptide is designed to self assemble to form a nanofibrous matrix that mimics natural extracellular matrix. Our synthetic matrix can be sheared, only to reform, due to the nature of the hydrophobic interactions and hydrogen bonds between peptides. These matrices form a hydrogel in the body, have been engineered to produce new blood vessels when injected.

Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) affects 8.3 million Americans. For these patients, obstructed arteries result in reduced blood flow to peripheral tissue. The ensuing low blood flow (ischemia) causes pain, known as intermittent claudication (IC). With prolonged ischemia, muscles and vessels begin to atrophy and die off. Additionally, ischemia inhibits wound healing downstream of the clogged vessels. Advanced stage PAD, known as critical limb ischemia (CLI) requires surgery and often results in amputation.

V-10 biologically signals and physically supports new blood vessel growth. These new highways for blood flow bypass the narrowed arteries, to return blood flow, reverse tissue atrophy, and prevent the need for amputation in animal models for PAD. V-10 utilizes patent pending “biomimicry” to selectively generate these robust and mature blood vessels. V-10 is delivered by a simple syringe injection and is fast acting, showing preservation of limbs in aged mice in just 7 days, compared to several months in control mice. V-10 is non-toxic to tissue, rapidly infiltrates with cells, biodegrades in 3 weeks, and has better than 1 year room temperature shelf-life based on laboratory studies. Additionally, the engineered properties of the material allow it to remain at the site of injection for three weeks, functioning to expose the surrounding tissue to the therapeutic for an extended period. The matrix nature of the material allows blood vessels to stabilize and grow, producing robust, non-leaky vessels by the time the material degrades. This multi-pronged approach ensures maximal effectiveness for clinical improvement.