An experimental drug could help improve movement in patients with spinal cord injuries, and it’s already making a big difference for one patient in Bensalem, Pennsylvania.
Larry Williams walks, something he thought wouldn’t be possible after breaking his neck in a bicycle accident three years ago.
“Panic, despair, depression, anxiety – I couldn’t do anything,” Williams said. “I didn’t even have the strength to turn over in bed.”
He wasn’t sure how much he would get back.
Wanting to get his life back, Williams decided to join a clinical trial in Chicago over the summer to test an experimental drug. He received an injection every day for three months.
The experimental drug made by NervGen Pharma is an injectable peptide that is supposed to help repair nerve connections disrupted by a spinal cord injury.
Mónica Pérez, from the Shirley Ryan Ability Lab, is the principal investigator. He said he examined 20 patients with chronic incomplete cervical spinal cord injuries.
Early results are positive, he said, and he hopes to get more FDA approvals.
“We are very excited,” Perez said.
Williams, who can now exercise, said she quickly felt a difference after the injections.
“Walking became easier. I felt stronger,” he said. “I gained more confidence and kept trying.”
He’s had some setbacks, he said, but he hopes to receive another round of treatment if the FDA approves it. It’s unclear when the FDA will intervene.
“I feel excited and hopeful, and I hope more people find out about this,” Williams said. “There are thousands of people in the country and in the world who could really use this drug, and it is the first of its kind.”
Williams can even drive and is headed toward what he hopes will be a full recovery.
