First-in-Class Therapeutic Pain Drug Designed from Proteins

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Medical

The Opioid crisis is a major epidemic. Social and economic well-being have flatlined as opioid abuse and overdoses devastate communities and overwhelm public health infrastructure. According to the CDC, almost 136 people die every day in the USA due to an opioid overdose. Starting in the 1990s USA, an uptick in opioid prescriptions for managing pain led to increased opioid dependence, especially in people suffering from chronic pain. The increase in injection pain drugs have also led to a deadly syndemic with HIV and Hepatitis C across the world. Hence, there have been multiple efforts to control the crises and has accelerated research efforts into developing non-opioid based medications for treating and managing pain.

At Neurocarrus Inc., we have developed a ground-breaking drug to easily treat localized pain without side effects. C2C is a novel protein drug designed and engineered by researchers at Neurocarrus Inc. from natural proteins to be a long-lasting, local painkiller. C2C specifically targets only the pain neurons and hence does not affect muscular activity. This specific mode of action is unique for treating pain and is also non-addictive. Preclinical trials have demonstrated the pain reduction to be almost 7 times more and 20 times longer than the currently prescribed over-the-counter pain relievers and narcotic pain medications, thus reducing the need for frequent injections. The preliminary pain tests performed on animals have also confirmed its efficacy to control inflammatory pain and surgical pain. These tests also demonstrated that C2C was safer for multiple uses compared to opioids which can cause addiction; and provided stronger pain relief than anesthesia, ibuprofen, and other over-the-counter pain medications. The drug C2C also did not cause any side-effects in long-term toxicity studies performed in animals as compared to the addiction, drowsiness, constipation, nausea and breathing troubles caused by opioid medications.

The efficiency of the drug has also independently been corroborated by multiple US federal agencies. C2C does not use any animal by-products. The purity and efficiency of drug C2C are ensured through multiple post-processing and testing steps to ensure the highest standards of manufacturing. C2C production can be scaled up easily and has already received support through the Nebraska Department of Economic Development for mass production. Neurocarrus Inc. has an exclusive license on the patent for C2C for all fields of use in seven jurisdictions. The project has also received backing from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) through the Helping to End Addiction Long-term (HEAL) initiative, as well as private investors. We have a team comprised of prominent research scientists in the field of protein engineering, which is led by a strong management team with expertise in business, biotechnology, and medicine. With a mission to ‘Transform the Way We Treat Pain’, we seek to improve healthcare and help control the opioid epidemic across the world by providing a safer alternative to the prescription of opioids as pain medications, especially among people suffering from chronic pain.

  • Awards

  • 2021 Medical Honorable Mention
  • 2021 Top 100 Entries

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  • ABOUT THE ENTRANT

  • Name:
    Samerender Nagam Hanumantharao
  • Type of entry:
    team
    Team members:
    Samerender Nagam Hanumantharao, Derek Allen, Paul Blum
  • Patent status:
    patented