Ekos Receives NIH Grant to Develop Intracerebral Hemorrhagic Stroke Therapy

June 7, 2010—Ekos Corporation (Bothell, WA) announced that it has received a $2.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop the company's ultrasound-accelerated drug-delivery technology for a potential new indication: to provide therapy for intracerebral hemorrhagic stroke (ICH).

Ekos noted that ICH is a devastating form of stroke affecting more than 100,000 Americans each year with high mortality and costs. The financial burden of ICH is approximately $125,000 per ICH patient per year, resulting in an overall annual cost of $6 billion for ICH patients in the United States. It is fatal in approximately 50% of all occurrences, and the majority of survivors have significant motor and cognitive disabilities. In 40% of ICH cases, bleeding extends into the brain ventricles causing intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) and increasing mortality to 80%. There are currently no sufficient medical therapies for either ICH or IVH, the company advised.

As previously reported by Endovascular Today, Principal Investigator David Newell, MD, presented data from the SLEUTH (Safety of Lysis With Ekos Ultrasound in the Treatment of ICH and IVH) study on February 25 at the 2010 American Heart Association International Stroke Conference in San Antonio, Texas (2010;9:18).

According to Dr. Newell, the objective of SLEUTH was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a novel therapy that combines ultrasound with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator delivered through a microcatheter directly into spontaneous IVH or ICH patients to facilitate evacuation of the hemorrhage. Thirty-five patients presented at the Swedish Neuroscience Institute with ICH and IVH and were screened between November 2008 and July 2009 for entry into the study. Dr. Newell found that all patients had significant volume reductions of the treated hemorrhage.

Dr. Newell commented, “Ekos's innovative and minimally invasive technology combines local delivery of recombinant tissue plasminogen activator with ultrasound enhancement, which results in effective blood clot removal. There is no doubt the results of this study show the potential for the Ekos ultrasound as a minimally invasive treatment option.”