Nanotope has screened hundreds of peptide amphiphile compounds and dozens of nanofiber gels have been evaluated for multiple therapeutic indications. Nanotope’s lead products are focused in three areas:

Spinal Cord Injury

Nanotope has screened multiple molecules for in vitro and in vivo efficacy toward neuron regeneration and spinal cord repair. These nanofiber gels are capable of directing the rapid differentiation of immature neuroprogenitor cells into neurons with significant neurite outgrowth. Of particular clinical relevance, Nanotope's material not only supported cell survival in vitro, but it also depressed astrocyte formation, a cell type implicated in the glial scar formation that contributes to the paralysis associated with spinal cord injury.

In vivo rodent studies have demonstrated significant reversal of paralysis in a clinically relevant injury model. Nanotope is optimizing this material and conducting longer-term animal studies for spinal cord regeneration to support an investigational new drug application to the FDA.

Wound Healing

Nanotope is also developing a material using a similar nanofiber platform that promotes the production of vascular endothelium in vitro and greatly increases rates of angiogenesis in vivo. Small animal models have demonstrated that topical application of the compound to a fresh wound bed leads to accelerated healing rates. Given its ability to promote vascular regeneration, this material is of particular interest for the prevention of surgical flap dehiscence and also broadly for the repair of ischemic tissues. Studies are underway to assess the compound’s efficacy for these indications.

Bone and Cartilage Regeneration

Nanofiber gels engineered with specialized biological signals have been demonstrated to promote both bone and cartilage regeneration in vivo using multiple small animal models. Nanotope is pursuing the scale-up and manufacturing technology transfer for these compounds in anticipation of future clinical development.