Seurat Therapeutics gets $510,000 grant for development of intranasal migraine therapy

Seurat Therapeutics, a start-up biotech based at the University of Chicago, has received a grant of almost $510,000 from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for development of its intranasal IGF-1 for the treatment and prevention of migraines, the company said.

In 2016, Seurat, then called Cephalgia, received $250,000 from the University of Chicago Innovation fund for the IGF-1 nasal spray, and earlier this year, the company said that it had raised $750,000 in private funding.

Data from a pre-clinical study conducted in rats showed that the intranasal IGF-1 significantly inhibited a process called spreading depression, which affects the gray matter of the brain and is associated with migraines.

Seurat Therapeutics Co-Founder and CEO Yuan Zhang commented, “We believe Seurat’s solution will be the first treatment to address the underlying cause of migraines, rather than just the symptoms of severe pain and life-altering disability. Migraines affect one in 10 people in the United States and is so debilitating, yet has limited treatment options suggesting a great unmet need for an innovative approach.”

Read the Seurat Therapeutics press release.