Cleveland, OH – Haima Therapeutics (“Haima”) has been awarded a $150,000 Phase II grant from the Ohio Third Frontier Technology Validation and Start-Up Fund (TVSF). This grant will focus on the evaluation of SynthoPlate, an intravenous synthetic platelet technology, for hemorrhage control in dogs after traumatic injury. Haima recently executed an exclusive license to the synthetic platelet technology with Case Western Reserve University to develop the technology, which is a key component to TVSF funding. Recently highlighted in Crain’s Cleveland.

Currently, there are roughly 75 million companion dogs in the US, and every year, about 1.2 million dogs are struck by vehicles, causing traumatic injury and uncontrolled internal bleeding with little to no treatment options available. Additionally, there are an estimated 5 million veterinary surgeries per year for which blood products are needed. For humans, blood platelet transfusion is the gold standard for the treatment of uncontrolled bleeding; however, it is near impossible for canine blood banks to maintain and distribute blood products primarily because dogs have 12 different blood types. IBIS World Reports estimates that the emergency veterinary services market is $5.7B.

 To this end, Haima Therapeutics has developed a fully synthetic platelet technology, called SynthoPlate, that can be stored as a dry powder for months-to-years and rapidly resuspended and injected via IV to any dog, regardless of blood type, after traumatic injury. SynthoPlate has been shown to be safe and effective at reducing bleeding and improving survival in several small (mouse, rat) and large (pig) animal models of traumatic hemorrhage.  Building on these accomplishments, with the support of TVSF, Haima aims to advance this technology for use in canine veterinary medicine. Under the award, Haima will evaluate the safety profile of SynthoPlate in canines and engage with regulatory experts and the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) to pave the way for approval of this therapy in dogs after traumatic injury.

“Support from the OH TVSF fund is critical for us to evaluate the potential for SynthoPlate to safely mitigate bleeding after traumatic injury in dogs and therefore meet this unmet medical need in veterinary medicine.” said Dr. Michael Bruckman, Haima’s CEO and COO. “The information learned through this support will de-risk the technical and regulatory hurdles to allow rapid market entry.”

Haima Therapeutics has received additional funding from Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants from the NIH, National Science Foundation (NSF), and DoD to support the development of the SynthoPlate technology for applications in human healthcare.