- Odyssey Health is a medical company focused on unique, life-saving medical products that offer clinical advantages to unmet clinical needs
- The company is currently developing a treatment for concussion, a condition that currently does not have an FDA-approved treatment despite having both short- and long-term consequences
- Through animal studies, Odyssey has so far evidenced that PRV-002 can easily cross the blood-brain barrier to rapidly eliminate the swelling, oxidative stress, and inflammation in the brain caused by concussion while simultaneously restoring proper blood flow
- Odyssey is currently undertaking Phase 1 clinical studies with plans underway to commence its Phase 2 trial in due course
Toward the late 2000’s, Arizona Cardinals’ then-quarterback Kurt Warner made an interesting observation. During the 2007 season, the training and medical staff had given him a brace for his left arm when he tore a ligament, with this immediate intervention allowing him to play just a week later. Two years later, Kurt sustained a concussion, but this time the same staff could not offer a solution and only recommended rest. As a result, Kurt ended up missing the following week’s game.
“The idea that there was treatment for an elbow injury – or an ankle, knee, hip, etc. – and not one for a brain injury always struck Warner as off, perhaps even ironic,” writes an article in AZ Central (https://ibn.fm/tGkcX). This observation, coupled with his experience with concussion, motivated Kurt to become involved in a company developing a drug candidate, PRV-002, that could be given to concussed patients to prevent both short-term and long-term consequences of concussion.
Early last year, PRV-002 was sold to Odyssey Health (OTC: ODYY), a medical company focused on unique, life-saving medical products that offer clinical advantages to unmet clinical needs, with this transaction only boosting the former NFL player’s efforts even further because Odyssey formed the Sports Advisory Board (“SAB”) whose inaugural members included Kurt, fellow pro-NFL player Brett Favre, Mark Rypien, David Ross, and Steve Mariucci.
“Each of these new members has been directly affected by traumatic brain injury and has first-hand experience of its effects on health and quality of life,” said Odyssey CEO Michael Redmond of the SAB’s formation (https://ibn.fm/hXCPA). “Concussion is a major health issue not only in sports but also in the military and everyday life. Our sports advisory board will play an integral role in enhancing the public’s awareness and understanding of the impacts of this common condition for which there is currently no FDA-approved drug treatment.”
It is estimated that between 64 and 74 million new cases of traumatic brain injury (“TBI”) globally are reported every year (https://ibn.fm/hIUhZ). A majority of these cases, between 70% and 90%, are mild (“mTBI”), although this range is often considered an underestimation, according to various studies (https://ibn.fm/rVrdv).
Also known as concussion, mTBI is caused by a jolt, blow, or force to the head that changes the brain’s function. This change often results in myriad consequences ranging from emotional and somatic changes to cognitive impairment and physical symptoms. These effects, an article by the Concussion Alliance explains, result from, among other things, the disrupted communication between neurons in the brain due to damage to the neuronal connections, chemical imbalance that requires lots of energy to return to the original state, and decrease in blood flow to the brain that, in turn, prevents adequate glucose from traveling to the brain (https://ibn.fm/NGYH4).
In most cases, concussion symptoms resolve within a few days or weeks as the damaged pathways rebuild and strengthen through repetition, use and cleanup of cell debris. However, there has been growing concern that mTBI may be associated with long-term consequences, particularly due to repeated or multiple head impacts. According to the Center for Disease Control (“CDC”) (https://ibn.fm/IUscv), a person with a history of repeated mTBIs may “experience a longer recovery or more severe symptoms [or] may have long-term problems, including ongoing problems with concentration, memory, headache, and occasionally, physical skills, such as keeping one’s balance.”
Ongoing research also shows that repeated episodes of concussion potentially cause chronic traumatic encephalopathy (“CTE”), a progressive brain condition that can only be diagnosed after death. New research has, in fact, found that contact-sport athletes are at least 68 times more likely to develop CTE than those who did not play any contact sport (https://ibn.fm/7FPrC). Moreover, CTE has been found in more than half of sportspeople who donated brains, according to findings by the Australian Sports Brain Bank (https://ibn.fm/BGQTS). It comes as no surprise, therefore, that retired sportspersons, such as the members of Odyssey’s SAB, are at the forefront of the pursuit of concussion treatment.
Odyssey has so far evidenced, through animal studies, that PRV-002 can easily cross the blood-brain barrier to rapidly eliminate swelling, oxidative stress, and inflammation in the brain caused by concussion while simultaneously restoring proper blood flow. The drug is intended to be administered immediately after a concussive episode, effectively mitigating the effects a blow or jolt might have on the brain and its functions.
The company is currently undertaking a human clinical Phase 1 trial evaluating the safety and tolerability of the drug candidate in healthy volunteers. It is also preparing for the planned Phase 2 study and working with its Military Advisory Board to identify clinical sites for this potentially groundbreaking study.
For more information, visit the company’s website at www.OdysseyHealthInc.com.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to ODYY are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/ODYY
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