SanBio Co. Ltd. and Nippon Medical School have entered a joint research agreement to investigate the efficacy of SB623 in the treatment of traumatic brain injury at subacute phase. About five million people die each year as a result of injuries globally, accounting for 9% of the world's deaths. Traffic accident injuries are the leading cause of death among young people aged between 15 and 29, and are one of the factors responsible for a decline in the working-age population. Of all the injuries, traumatic brain injuries (TBI) in particular account for a high percentage, and according to reports by Japan Trauma Data Bank (JTDB), during the four years between 2012 and 2016 there were about 20,000 TBI patients who required hospitalization, which is roughly the same number of hospitalizations for leg injuries such as fractures. A team of researchers led by Associate Professor Shoji Yokobori at the Department of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine, Nippon Medical School has been studying technology involved with the development of stem cell-embedded collagen-based dural matrix to be used in the treatment of TBI. This technology will be applied to SB623 in the joint research, and with the use of animal models of TBI, SanBio and Nippon Medical School will evaluate the efficacy and safety of SB623-embedded dural matrix at subacute-phase with the goal of obtaining data necessary to advance to the clinical trial stage. In treating acute symptoms of TBI, external decompression is sometimes performed to prevent secondary brain damage caused by cerebral edema. The two parties will investigate whether the use of SB623-embedded dural matrix during cranioplasty can lead to restoration of brain functions. SanBio is currently developing SB623 for the treatment of chronic motor deficit associated with TBI. With this joint research, it aims to expand the indication of SB623 to include the subacute effects of TBI.