Description:
Caffeinol: Composition and Method for Treatment of Cerebral Ischemia
Stroke & Current Treatment
Approximately 800,000 strokes occur in the United States each year costing the U.S. an estimated 34 billion dollars per year. Stroke is the 4th leading cause of death in the U.S., leading cause of disability in the elderly, and the 2nd leading cause of death in the world.
There is only one medication that has been successful to date. Using recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA), this method uses the body’s own natural clot dissolving enzyme to open the obstructed artery. Although this approach has increased the percentage of patients recovering from strokes and helped improve outcomes, rtPA does not produce complete or substantial recovery in the majority of patients since it does not predictably dissolve larger clots. Furthermore, it cannot be given to patients with intracerebral bleeding and therefore requires brain imaging prior to administration, and even so still produces bleeding in up to 5% of patients. Therefore, there is a need for a treatment that is safe, inexpensive, well-tolerated, widely available, and can complement current treatment options.
Caffeinol: Treatment for Cerebral Ischemia
UTHealth researchers have developed Caffeinol, a formulation for the treatment of stroke. This approach to stroke treatment is based on "neuroprotection", which refers to addressing the biochemical abnormalities set in motion by the disruption of blood flow associated with stroke. Advantages to Caffeinol and the neuroprotective approach is that it could be given safely to patients with hemorrhage, and could therefore be used early prior to imaging or even medical contact, and if relatively inexpensive and without toxicity, could be widely sold and used.
World-wide exclusive or non-exclusive licenses are available for issued U.S. Patents: 6,500,834; 6,503,915; and 6,503,916.