ScarX Therapeutics, a MaRS Innovation start-up company from the Hospital for Sick Children, was featured in “Scars Defaced,” a BioCentury emerging company profile by Michael J. Haas.
The profile is available to BioCentury subscribers on their website (paywall in place).
Here’s a short excerpt:
ScarX Corp. has reformulated a generic analgesic that is marketed primarily in Europe into a topical cream that patients can self-administer
after surgery to prevent scarring. The company expects cosmetic and reconstructive surgeons to be early adopters of its topical nefopam, and
thinks patients will pay out of pocket.
Nefopam is a non-opioid analgesic that is marketed in Europe, Australia and parts of Asia in oral or IV formulations to treat pain, but is not approved for use in North America. ScarX has exclusive rights from The Hospital for Sick Children to one issued patent and five patents pending covering the use of nefopam as an antiscarring agent, and its topical formulation.
[ . . . ]
Stephen Whitehead, president and COO of ScarX Therapeutics.
[Stephen] Whitehead [president and COO] also noted 30 years of postmarket data show systemic nefopam is safe, while ScarX’s studies show the systemic exposure of topical nefopam is 25 times lower than its recommended oral dose as an analgesic.
He added, “There are 7.2 million cosmetic and reconstructive surgeries in the U.S. annually, and this is primarily a cash-paying market.”
The company is raising C$2 million ($1.6 million) from angels, its founding investors and undisclosed others in a series A round to fund a Phase I/IIa trial. The study would test the product in healthy volunteers using the hip scratch model, in which subjects receive a scalpel scratch on each hip — one for treatment, the other as a control.
ScarX Therapeutics, a MaRS Innovation start-up company from the Hospital for Sick Children, was featured in “Scars Defaced,” a BioCentury emerging company profile by Michael J. Haas.