HARTFORD–U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Monday announced that Astrocyte Pharmaceuticals, a Groton-based clinical-stage biopharmaceuticals company, was named “Innovator of the Month” for their work to advance cerebroprotective therapies for individuals suffering from stroke, traumatic brain injury (TBI), concussions and other neurodegenerative ailments. Stroke and TBI are among the leading causes of death and disability in the U.S., and there is a growing recognition that concussions are a major public health concern due to the enduring symptoms experienced by many individuals and the mounting evidence for long-term negative consequences from repetitive TBIs. However, there are currently no approved cerebroprotective therapies approved to treat these millions of patients. Astrocyte’s flagship program, AST-004, has been shown to significantly reduce early brain damage in a broad range of preclinical studies and is advancing to Phase 2 patient clinical trials next year. 

“Astrocyte is breaking new ground with their innovative approach to treating strokes and TBIs — two of the most common causes of death and disability. Their work has the potential to transform the lives of countless patients, and I look forward to seeing their continued success and growth in our state,” said Murphy.

“We are honored to be recognized by Senator Murphy as a top Innovator in the state of Connecticut,” said Ted Liston, Astrocyte’s Vice President of Research. “For 37 years, I’ve been fortunate to be part of the world-class scientific and drug development community of southeastern Connecticut, and our team is proud to be advancing this innovative life-saving treatment to patients.”

Astrocyte Pharmaceuticals was founded in 2014, and its headquarters are at the BioCT Innovation Commons in Groton, CT. The company has raised over $25M from both private investors across the world and public grants. In 2022, Astrocyte was awarded funding by the Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium (MTEC) in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Defense’s U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command to conduct the Phase 1 clinical trials of AST-004. In 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Astrocyte’s Investigational New Drug application to start a Phase 2 clinical trial of AST-004 treating acute ischemic stroke patients.

Murphy believes entrepreneurship and innovation are the building blocks for a strong economy. In the U.S. Senate, he has introduced legislation to incentivize angel investors to put more money into startup companies—the Angel Tax Credit Act and the Helping Angels Lead Our Startups (HALOS) Act. Startup companies create an average of 2 million jobs each year.

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