Oragenics, Inc. announced it has appointed Dr. William ?Frank? Peacock as its Chief Clinical Officer, who will conduct its anticipated Phase II clinical trial for treating concussion in the Emergency Department (?ED?). Oragenics?

lead drug candidate, ONP-002, is combined with its intranasal device intended for the treatment of mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI), commonly known as concussion, in the field and emergency departments. ONP-002 is a new chemical entity (NCE) designed to target the brain through delivery into the nasal cavity and onward to the brain. A 40-patient Phase I study was completed and showed the drug to be safe and well-tolerated.

Dr. Peacock is currently the Vice Chair for Emergency Medicine Research at Baylor College of Medicine and a past Professor at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine. He is also the Principal Investigator of a trial for a company developing blood biomarkers for the identification of concussion in the emergency department, which is analyzing acute blood markers that are elevated after concussion to not only ensure concussion is identified but also as a predictor of potential severity and longer-term complications. Dr. Peacock is a world-renowned speaker and researcher.

He has been instrumental in the approval and use of high sensitivity blood troponins for acute coronary syndrome failure in emergency settings, which can be seen in the JAMA Cardiology publication, Efficacy of High-Sensitivity Troponin T in Identifying Very-Low-Risk Patients with Possible Acute Coronary Syndrome, and he is the editor of the first book of ?Biomarkers of Traumatic Brain Injury?.