Irvine based Zymo Research Corp. (Zymo), and doctors from the world renowned stroke team from the University of Texas, Health Science Center at Houston via Zymo Pharmaceuticals, LLC  with the Chinese pharmaceutical company Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Fudan-Zhangjiang) are working closely together to bring to market just such an early intervention therapeutic comprising echogenic liposome technology (ELIP) to protect stroke victims for greater survival and better quality of life outcomes.

The three groups held a ribbon cutting and signing ceremony which was attended by the Irvine Chamber of Commerce to commemorate a strategic Pan-Pacific collaboration to target the debilitating disease of stroke.  According to the World Health Organization, stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States and the second leading cause of death in China affecting at least 15 million people each year.  Of these, 5 million die and another 5 million are permanently disabled.  Most of these victims could benefit from early intervention to protect the brain from damage increasing quality of health and recovery.

Successful treatment for stroke must begin within three hours of onset or brain damage ensues.  Prolonging this “golden window” for subsequent clinical intervention is the goal of this collaboration which can save and improve countless lives.  Currently, no effective treatment exists for this critical time window, except for the goal of this collaboration.

 
ELIP based drugs under development show the capacity to work for all types of stroke and are designed to protect the brain from damage until patients can get the proper treatment for the specific type of stroke at a hospital.  Currently, ELIP drugs hold promise as the only effective first line of treatment available for stroke anywhere.  ELIP drugs should eventually aid the millions of stroke victim to prevent brain damage so subsequent treatments can also be effective.  In addition to direct effects on stroke patient’s health this collaboration will increase economic output for both local and international business markets measured in the billions resulting from increased productivity.

Zymo Research, a private company based in Irvine, California, and founded in 1994, has been proudly serving the scientific community by providing proven, trusted, and state-of-the-art DNA and RNA research technologies.Zymo Research has recently received much attention for its rapidly expanding epigenetics portfolio of products and services. Branding itself “The Epigenetics Company”, and has an internal discovery program for applying epigenetics to disease that led to the collaboration for the ELIP technology and the founding of Zymo Pharmaceuticals, LLC to develop this into a therapeutic for stroke.