BioHarvest Sciences Inc. announced a collaboration with the International Neurorehabilitation Institute (INI) in Lutherville, Maryland to perform a clinical trial to assess the capacity of its RGC composition to promote eye health. The study will be led by Dr. Daniel Becker, Director of the INI and Assistant Professor of Neurology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. RGC is a patented composition based on BioHarvest's Botanical-Synthesis technology, with consistency and quality that have potential to meet the criteria for being used as an Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API).

The planned translational open-label clinical study will evaluate the impact of RGC on multiple sclerosis (MS)-related optic neuritis driven by inflammation. The study - the latest of several human clinical trials run by BioHarvest - aims to elucidate the mechanisms through which RGC impacts the disease by measuring anti-oxidative, detoxifying, and inflammatory biomarkers. The research team hypothesizes that RGC will result in positive changes to eye health by modulating a variety of biomarkers compared to baseline in the study participants.

The next important step for this study is submission to an Institutional Review Board (IRB) to be followed by the study launch with 15-30 participants. The Multiple Sclerosis Foundation estimates more than 1 million people in the United States and about 2.5 million people worldwide have been diagnosed with MS, and some 200 new cases are diagnosed weekly in the US alone. While the root causes of MS are still unknown, there are definite links between genetic and select environmental factors.