HOUSTON, June 05, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- New York Times bestselling author Kurt Eichenwald will be at Crowne Plaza Houston Near Reliant Medical on Thursday, June 13, at 7 p.m. to discuss his 2018 memoir, “A Mind Unraveled,” in which he details his personal battle with epilepsy. The free event is at the Crowne Plaza Houston, 8686 Kirby Drive.
The event is sponsored by Engage Therapeutics, a company founded by a biopharmaceutical executive whose son has epilepsy, and the Clinical Trial Network (CTN) of Houston. Engage and CTN are collaborating on a clinical trial to evaluate Staccato alprazolam, a hand-held inhaler that delivers alprazolam with a single breath and is designed to give people with epilepsy and their caregivers a way to stop an ongoing seizure.
An award-winning journalist, Mr. Eichenwald has authored five books. His second book, "The Informant," was made into a movie starring Matt Damon and directed by Steven Soderbergh. He is a senior writer at Newsweek and a contributing editor at Vanity Fair, and he spent two decades as a senior writer at The New York Times, where he was a two-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Mr. Eichenwald also is a two-time winner of the George Polk Award, as well as the winner of the Payne Award for Ethics in Journalism and an Emmy Award nominee.
He also has earned wide acclaim for his memoir, the story of his battle to pursue his dreams despite his incapacitating epilepsy. As a college freshman, Mr. Eichenwald awoke one night on the floor of his dorm room, confused and in pain. In the aftermath of that critical moment, his once, care-free life became consumed by confrontations with medical incompetence, discrimination that almost cost him his education and employment, physical abuse, and dark moments when he contemplated suicide.
“A Mind Unraveled is an inspiring story about perseverance and fortitude in overcoming the paralyzing fear of seizures and extreme helplessness people with epilepsy live with every day,” said Gregory T. Mayes, Founder and CEO of Engage Therapeutics. Mr. Mayes, whose career in the biopharmaceutical industry has spanned more than 20 years, became involved in the epilepsy community following his teenage son’s epilepsy diagnosis in 2014. Leveraging his drug development experience and deep roots in the pharmaceutical industry, he founded Engage Therapeutics in 2017 to develop what could be the U.S.’s first seizure rescue inhaler.
Engage Therapeutics in collaboration with CTN is sponsoring the multi-center StATES Study (Staccato Alprazolam Terminates Epileptic Seizures - NCT03478982), a phase 2b trial designed to evaluate the safety, efficacy and usability of Staccato alprazolam in patients with epilepsy who have a predictable seizure pattern. The StATES study is being conducted at approximately 50 trial sites in the United States, Australia, Canada and Jamaica. Please visit www.epilepsyhealthstudy.com for more information about the StATES study and www.engagetherapeutics.com/study-locations/ for a list of study locations.
For information on the event, email Brittany Van Nelson at bvannelson@engagetherapeutics.com.
About Staccato Alprazolam
Staccato alprazolam is a single-use, investigational epileptic seizure rescue therapy that combines the Staccato delivery technology, which is currently used in a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved product, with alprazolam, an FDA-approved benzodiazepine. It is a small, easy-to-use, hand-held inhaler that delivers alprazolam with a single breath potentially providing a way for people with epilepsy and their caregivers to stop an ongoing seizure. The Staccato system rapidly vaporizes alprazolam to form aerosol, with particle size designed for deep lung delivery, producing a rapid, systemic effect. In a phase 2a proof-of-concept study, Staccato alprazolam demonstrated rapid reduction of seizure-like activity in a photosensitivity model.
About Engage Therapeutics, Inc.
Engage Therapeutics is developing Staccato alprazolam for the immediate cessation of active and acute epileptic seizures. The investigational product is in the Rapid Epileptic Seizure Termination (REST) category of products. Engage Therapeutics is based in Summit, N.J. For additional information please see www.engagetherapeutics.com.
About The Clinical Trial Network
Founded in 2004, the Clinical Trial Network (CTN) is a privately owned, state-of-the-art, multi-specialty clinical research (MSCR) facility, located in Houston. CTN owns and operates industry-leading clinical research sites that specialize in a full range of indications. CTN specializes and conducts research of multiple therapeutic indications such as diabetes, cholesterol, hypertension, pain and constipation, in addition to epilepsy. CTN is able to conduct research in all four phases (Phase I, II, III, IV) of clinical research trials. CTN has been named to Inc.com’s 500 I 5000 Businesses List, recognized with the 2012 ICIC Inner City 100 Award for 100 Fastest-Growing Urban Business in America and received the Goldman Sachs’ “Companies to Watch” Award. CTN also received the Star Award for Economic Development from the Houston West Chamber of Commerce.
Contacts:
Engage Therapeutics
Mark Theeuwes
mtheeuwes@engagetherapeutics.com
Clinical Trial Network
Karen Daniel
832-455-6662
kdaniel@researchnetworkamerica.com