InVivo Therapeutics Corporation Announces FDA Approval To Expedite Enrollment For Ongoing Pilot Trial

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--InVivo Therapeutics Holdings Corp. (NVIV) today announced approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for an expedited enrollment plan for the company’s ongoing pilot trial of its investigational Neuro-Spinal Scaffold in patients with acute spinal cord injury. Under the new plan, barring significant safety issues, InVivo will submit two months of safety data to the FDA for the first subject enrolled in October, and will then open enrollment for the second subject in mid-January (about three months after the first subject was enrolled). Upon enrollment of the second subject, InVivo will submit to the FDA one month of safety data for that subject together with the previous subject’s data; concurrent enrollment for the remaining three subjects will then begin (about two months after the second subject is enrolled). There will be no additional mandatory holds between enrollment of the final three subjects. This differs from the previous plan, which required a mandatory three-month hold between sequential enrollment of each of the five subjects.

Mark Perrin, InVivo’s CEO, said, “Over the last calendar year, we have cultivated a collaborative and fruitful relationship with the FDA, and we couldn’t be happier with today’s announcement. Under our new plan, it’s possible to reduce the duration of our pilot trial by up to one year. This, of course, is dependent on patient presentation, but with today’s approval, along with our previously-announced approval of increasing the number of clinical sites up to 20, we are much better positioned to execute and complete this trial in an expedited fashion. Although we cannot predict when subjects will present, we now anticipate full enrollment in the pilot trial in 2015.”

This is the company’s first clinical study of its investigational degradable polymer Neuro-Spinal Scaffold. The IDE pilot study has been approved by the FDA and is intended to capture preliminary safety and effectiveness data of the Neuro-Spinal Scaffold in five subjects with acute thoracic spinal cord injury. InVivo then expects to conduct a pivotal study to obtain FDA approval to commence commercialization under a Humanitarian Device Exemption (HDE).

For more information, please visit the company’s ClinicalTrials.gov registration site: http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/study/NCT02138110

About the Neuro-Spinal Scaffold

The biodegradable Neuro-Spinal Scaffold is surgically implanted at the epicenter of the wound after an acute spinal cord injury and acts by appositional healing to spare spinal cord tissue, decrease post-traumatic cyst formation, and decrease spinal cord tissue pressure in preclinical models of spinal cord contusion injury. The Neuro-Spinal Scaffold, an investigational device, has received a Humanitarian Use Device designation and is currently being studied in a pilot study for the treatment of complete (AIS A) traumatic acute spinal cord injury.

About InVivo Therapeutics

InVivo Therapeutics Holdings Corp. is a pioneering biomaterials and biotechnology company with a focus on treatment of spinal cord injuries. The company was founded in 2005 with proprietary technology co-invented by Robert Langer, ScD, Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Joseph P. Vacanti, MD, who then was at Boston Children’s Hospital and who now is affiliated with Massachusetts General Hospital. In 2011 the company earned the David S. Apple Award from the American Spinal Injury Association for its outstanding contribution to spinal cord injury medicine. The publicly-traded company is headquartered in Cambridge, MA. For more details, visit www.invivotherapeutics.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

Any statements contained in this press release that do not describe historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These statements can be identified by words such as “believe,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “estimate,” “will,” “may,” “should,” “expect” and similar expressions, and include statements regarding the expedited enrollment of additional patients in the pilot trial; the expected duration of the pilot trial and timeline of full enrollment in the pilot trial; and the Company’s ability to conduct a second pivotal study. Any forward-looking statements contained herein are based on current expectations, and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual future results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties relating to the Company’s ability to successfully open additional clinical sites for enrollment and to enroll additional patients; the timing of the Institutional Review Board process; the Company’s ability to obtain FDA approval to commercialize its products; the Company’s ability to develop, market and sell products based on its technology; the expected benefits and efficacy of the Company’s products and technology in connection with spinal cord injuries; the availability of substantial additional funding for the Company to continue its operations and to conduct research and development, clinical studies and future product commercialization; and other risks associated with the Company’s business, research, product development, regulatory approval, marketing and distribution plans and strategies identified and described in more detail in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013, as amended, and its other filings with the SEC, including the Company’s Form 10-Qs and current reports on Form 8-K. The Company does not undertake to update these forward-looking statements.

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