Biomaterials-based devices maker Arsenal Medical has announced the treatment of the first patient with the company’s investigational NeoCast embolic biomaterial.
The patient was embolised successfully under the open-label, multicentre NeoCast first-in-human clinical trial, said the US-based clinical-stage company.
NeoCast is said to be the first-in-class, embolic biomaterial for neurovascular conditions.
Arsenal Medical has designed the biomaterial to address the limitations of current embolic solutions for indications requiring deep penetration into the microvasculature.
Developed with funds secured from the National Cancer Institute, NeoCast uses shear-thinning technology to reach the smallest vessels and obstruct blood flow to tumours, as well as damaged or diseased tissues.
According to Arsenal Medical, the new biomaterial is simple to deploy and produces consistent performance. It also eliminates the harsh solvents that are typically present in today’s liquid embolics.
The study’s primary investigator and Monash Health neurointerventionalist Lee-Anne Slater said: “NeoCast was responsive, controlled, and highly visible during injection, penetrating deep into and occluding the target vessels.
“NeoCast is a promising solution for neurovascular applications that would benefit from penetration into the microvasculature such as chronic subdural hematomas and hypervascular tumours.”
In order to facilitate surgical removal, the study is assessing the early safety and viability of NeoCast for the embolisation of a patient’s brain tumour.
Arsenal Medical president and CEO Upma Sharma said: “We appreciate the hard work of Dr. Slater and our other clinical investigators to enable this important milestone.
“This successful deployment of NeoCast demonstrates our vision of harnessing the power of materials to build groundbreaking medical devices.
“We look forward to completing the first-in-human study and confirming the potential of our materials to address areas of disease or injury that have previously been inaccessible or untreatable.”
