Braveheart upbeat on investee's brain research breakthrough

Braveheart Investment Group updated the market on the progress of its investee company Kirkstall on Friday, including a recent breakthrough in the study of the human blood-brain barrier and its interaction with brain cancer.

The AIM-traded firm said that in a landmark collaboration, Kirkstall teamed up with the Biomedical Ultrasonics, Biotherapy and Biopharmaceutical Laboratory at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering of the University of Oxford.

Together, they had successfully pioneered an ‘organ-on-a-chip’ model, which was described as an innovative milli-fluidic system representation of the human blood-brain barrier.

The model had proven instrumental in mapping the intricate interaction between the blood-brain barrier and a type of brain cancer known as medulloblastoma.

Notably, the achievement was the first instance where a dynamic milli-fluidic model had been employed to showcase the interactions between the blood-brain barrier and medulloblastoma brain cancer spheroids.

Central to the model was Kirkstall's ‘Quasi Vivo’ platform - a one-of-a-kind milli-fluidic system.

Braveheart said the newly-developed model offered researchers an unprecedented opportunity to observe the in vitro effectiveness of drugs tailored for the treatment of brain cancers and central nervous system disorders, including debilitating diseases such as Alzheimer's.

The company said it retained a substantial 86.11% equity interest in Kirkstall, and by the end of March, it had extended unsecured interest-free loans totalling £10,752.

“It is exciting to observe how collaboration between Kirkstall and Oxford University has resulted in an innovative and important application for the Quasi Vivo platform,” said Braveheart chief executive officer Trevor Brown.

At 1333 BST, shares in Braveheart Investment Group were down 2.04% at 12p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.