ClearPoint Neuro, UCSF Working on Intra-Cerebral Cellular Delivery Platform

ClearPoint Neuro Inc. has brokered an exclusive multi-year licensing agreement of intellectual property from UC San Francisco (UCSF) to develop and commercialize a radially branching cellular delivery device for use both in the operating room under fluoroscopy/CT guidance and under MRI guidance.
 
“This invention will help clinicians guide the delivery of biologic therapies—from stem cell transplants to gene therapy vectors—to specific locations in the human brain with real-time image guidance,” said Dr. Daniel Lim, M.D., Ph.D., professor of Neurological Surgery at UCSF. “By helping surgeons tailor biologic delivery to individual patient anatomy and specific diseases, I hope this invention can contribute to the successful treatment of neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease.”

Dr. Lim and colleagues published preliminary pre-clinical results in Molecular Therapy demonstrating successful deposition of cells to multiple targets using the radially branched deployment device in the MRI, guided by the ClearPoint Neuro Navigation platform.¹
 
UCSF’s Innovation Ventures group leads business development and licensing efforts on behalf of UCSF. Under terms of the agreement, ClearPoint Neuro will work with the university’s Innovation Ventures Group to develop, obtain regulatory clearance, and commercialize the intracerebral cellular delivery device designed by Dr. Lim.
 
“Technical limitations of devices and surgical strategies to successfully deliver therapeutic agents to precise targets have plagued cell therapy trials for decades,” stated Jeremy Stigall, executive vice president and general manager of Biologics and Drug Delivery at ClearPoint Neuro. “We are delighted to partner with UCSF to bring this innovative delivery platform to our pharmaceutical partners working on cellular therapy. We believe that, when combined with our ClearPoint system and software, Dr. Lim’s cell delivery platform could potentially empower predicable and precise delivery of cells into different anatomical targets using various image-guidance technologies. This approach will allow cellular delivery at facilities that do not have access to MRI and will also expedite therapeutic delivery and ultimately patient recovery.”

Funding for this research came, in part, from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (RT2-01975).
 
ClearPoint Neuro’s mission is to improve and restore quality of life to patients and their families by enabling therapies for the most complex neurological disorders with pinpoint accuracy. Applications of the company’s current product portfolio include deep brain stimulation, laser ablation, biopsy, and delivery of drugs, biologics, and gene therapy to the brain. The ClearPoint Neuro Navigation System has U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearance, is CE-marked, and is installed in more than 65 sites in North America, Europe, and South America. ClearPoint Neuro is partnered with more than 50 biologics/pharmaceutical companies, academic centers, and contract research organizations, providing solutions for direct CNS delivery of therapeutics in pre-clinical studies and clinical trials worldwide. To date, more than 6,000 procedures have been performed and supported by the company’s field-based clinical specialist team, which offers support and services to customers and partners. 

Reference 
¹ Silvestrini MT, Yin D, Martin AJ, et al. Interventional magnetic resonance imaging-guided cell transplantation into the brain with radially branched deployment. Mol Ther. 2015;23(1):119-129. doi:10.1038/mt.2014.155