Oxeia Biopharma is on a mission to bring the first potentially-effective treatment for concussions.
An estimated twenty-one million concussions occur in the U.S. each year. As many as four million Americans develop concussion-like symptoms — headaches, dizziness, memory problems, etc. Yet no FDA-approved treatments for this condition exists.
Many of these people don’t recover from their symptoms. The headaches continue. Cognitive function remains impaired. Memory loss gets worse.
Traditionally, medical establishments have treated concussions as minor injuries. When CT scans and MRIs show no bleeding or fractures, doctors typically prescribe rest and expect a natural recovery. Pharmaceutical companies, meanwhile, typically direct their research time and money toward things like strokes and traumatic brain injuries (TBIs).
Now Oxeia is addressing those with concussions, led by a team that has achieved nine billion dollars’ worth of prior exits.
The inspiration for this company started with co-founder Dr. Vishal Bansal, who treats head injuries as a trauma surgeon at Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego.
He operated on skull fractures and repaired severe tissue damage. He noticed that concussion patients were sent home to rest. When rest didn’t work, Bansal realized he was out of options.
That prompted him to begin research on ghrelin, a naturally-occurring peptide hormone. The body produces ghrelin in response to metabolic stress. But after a TBI, natural levels aren’t enough. The brain faces a cascade of damage — oxidative stress, inflammation, metabolic dysfunction — that persists long after impact.
In preclinical models at the University of California San Diego (UCSD), therapeutic doses of ghrelin reduced oxidative stress and inflammation, improved motor function, and reduced neuronal degeneration. This all happened within the first twenty-four hours.
These lab results led to human trials. And at the University of Kansas Medical Center, eighty-five percent of patients with persistent concussion symptoms improved with Bansal’s creation, known as OXE103.
OXE103 delivers therapeutic doses of ghrelin at an attempt to relieve and correct concussion symptoms.
Oxeia is supported by $100 million in development data. It has a licensing agreement to this data generated by Daiichi Sankyo Pharmaceuticals, a pharmaceutical company with a forty-two-billion-dollar market cap.
Oxeia is raising funds to complete its next round of clinical trials. Its Phase 2b round will enroll 160 patients with persistent concussion symptoms at major academic centers across the U.S. Enrollment is slated for 2026. Positive results here would validate the drug’s efficacy at scale and potentially establish the foundation for approval from the FDA.
Long-term, Oxeia could find success treating concussions in professional sports, specifically the National Football League. Multiple former players including quarterback Alex Smith and defensive back Richard Sherman are involved with Oxeia as investors and advisors.