# Neurocarrus

Treating Neurodegenerative Disease and Pain 
Without Addiction

## Elevator pitch
Since 2017 the opioid epidemic has been classified as national emergency. We're developing a non-opioid drug to treat pain without risk of addiction. So far we've shown promising results in animal trials and are fundraising to continue pre-clinical development. 

- Canonical URL: https://wefunder.com/neurocarrus
- Entity ID: wefunder:company:29542
- Last updated: 2026-06-09T05:00:09Z
- Generated at: 2026-06-09T20:23:42Z

## Quick facts
- Drug candidate N-001 provides relief from acute pain in animals caused by inflammation or surgery.
- Neurocarrus has built a pipeline of drugs using the APOLLO targeting and delivery system.
- N-001, NL-17, N-19a treat acute, migraine and chronic pain by sensory neuron targeting.
- The APOLLO drugs use a unique manufacturing process to discourage competitors.
- There is a massive market for the treatment of Neurodegenerative disease and pain around the world.
- Neurocarrus has a strong track record of non-dilutive funding from federal and state government.
- Founder has been working in the space for 25+ years trouble shooting commercial biologicals.
- Patents issued and pending on exclusively licensed technology in both the U.S. and select countries.

## Active fundraises
- wefunder:fundraise:66105: 4(a)(6) successful (USD)
- wefunder:fundraise:66106: 4(a)(6) successful (USD)
- wefunder:fundraise:20538: 4(a)(6) successful (USD)

## Story
Neurocarrus top scientific publications:Animal efficacy and safety studiesTargeting, mechanism, and efficacy studiesDrug design and engineering studies

## FAQ
1. **What was the valuation on your 12/17 priced round? Why crowdfunding vs. traditional public biotech listings on the OTC or Canadian Venture exchanges? Do you have IP that's defendable? Thanks for your time, I like what you're trying to accomplish!**
   - Hello Barnaby, happy to answer these. Our valuation in our 12/17 round was 3 million. We chose crowdfunding on Wefunder due to the number of people who have contacted us individually and expressed a desire to invest at a small scale. Many acquaintances expressed interest to us since our inception, but we haven't had the time to individually work through each contract. Using Wefunder, we can give each party a full picture and make sure they are completely informed, while providing a simple way...
2. **Interesting molecule that from the limited information appears to work by blocking pain neurotransmission-Is this then a drug for neuropathic or somatic pain or both? secondly venturing in to phase 1-3 trials requires huge funding and we have seen many biotech start up firms o...**
   - Hello Palliankal. Thanks for reaching out. Your understanding is essentially correct: our drug targets overactive sensory neurons, and has the potential to treat many kinds of peripheral pain. So to answer your first question, it is a drug for both kinds of pain. In regards to your second question, I assume you're asking about how we will fund clinical trials. We anticipate U.S. government grant support for Phase 1 trials (especially given newly allocated funding for development of new, non-o...
3. **What is your exit strategy? Do you intend to pay a dividend past Phase three?**
   - Hello Craig. We plan to partner with a larger pharmaceutical company at or after Phase 1 clinical trials. This will be either through a licensing agreement for N-001, or an acquisition of our company. Dividend payments, or other form of profit-sharing, will depend on the structure of our exit, but may come sooner than Phase 3.
4. **Hi, does the SAFE converts to preferred stock or common stock?**
   - Good question. SAFE converts to preferred stock. Paul
5. **Mr. Blum- How long(years) do you foresee before a larger pharmaceutical company purchases your drug. Asking as an investor for time frame. Thank you and good luck!**
   - We could expect our drug to be purchased (or licensed) within 1-2 years corresponding to stages in its development. Stage one is when the FDA (Food and Drug Agency) approves our IND (Investigational New Drug) application because it means we can start human clinical trials. Stage two is when we complete Phase I human trials with a successful outcome, that would be that our drug is safe.

## Team
- Paul Blum (Co-founder/CEO)
- Derek Allen (Research Scientist)
- Jianguo Cheng, MD, Ph.D (Board Member)
- Bruce McDonald, JD (Board Member)
- Mark Blum, JD (Board Member)
- Vicky Valverde Salas (Board Member)

## Q&A
- Q: Paul, Neurocarrus has a very needed drug that can replace opioid based ones without addiction.. When do you think you can complete clinical trials? Have invested again as I believe this will be a blockbuster....
  - A: Thank you Ven. Our current Phase II SBIR $2.78 M award will get us to IND filing. IND filing enables us to start clinical trials. Before that we will request federal assistance for phase I trials.
- Q: Hi Paul/Neurocarrus, first off I want to say I'm a fan of Neurocarrus. I invested in your previous round and just reserved a spot in the current (September 2023) round. I have a couple comments/questions: 1. I think you are undervaluing Neurocarrus. The previous round was raised at a valuation of $7.5M, the current round has a listed valuation of $8M. Since the first round Neurocarrus has received the Phase I SBIR, demonstrated the efficacy of N-001 in mice, and brought on new staff. Investors want to see a return on their funds and the 7% increase in valuation over the past 3 years could definitely turn off potential investors. Valuations of early stage raises are clearly highly subjective (or pulled from thin air) but for Neurocarrus increasing the valuation of this round by say 50% is completely justified, would make current investors happy, and probably increase what you can raise in this round. 2. Include clickable links to the recent publications. For anyone interested, this is the study from Nature Scientific Reports published a couple months ago: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-38618-4 3. Are you pursuing other SBIRs? DoD could be interested in N-001 for battlefield medicine, NSF funds all sorts of projects, different call from NIH, etc. 4. Technical question: N-001 reduces pain levels by reducing actin remodeling. Actin has many function beyond pain signaling, is there any concern that N-001 could cause side effects by interfering with these other functions? Thanks, Kurt
  - A: Hello Kurt, thank you for the questions! Here are responses: 1. Neurocarrus raised its valuation today from $8M to $11.25M based on investor advice and successful preclinical data reducing drug development risk. 2. Thank you for the suggestion, we have added clickable links to our three publications on our Wefunder page. 3. We are currently pursuing additional SBIR funding opportunities. 4. This is a great question! Our previous data have shown that at our dosing, N00-1 is able to inhibit the pain signaling through our actin modification without resulting in neuron death or major morphological changes, and that the actin modification activity is reversible. Our studies to date on safety have not shown any evidence of harmful side effects in animal models, but further safety testing will be important. Actin has been a historical target for pain control, early pharmacologic efforts have shown it as an effective target for pain relief. But all previous attempts were done through small molecule, non-targeted drugs that led to side effects because they were altering actin in non neuronal cells. Our added targeting for N-001 eliminates these off-target effects that result in side effects.
- Q: Hi Paul, when will the clinical trials take place? and when will we expect some results from these?
  - A: We hope clinical trials will be in 2 years, depending on preclinical funding levels.
- Q: I am not sure if I am misunderstanding something. On the slide related to Intellectual Property it talks about several patents that have been issued or are pending. Then there is a bullet point that states, Neurocarrus exclusively licensed these patents for all-fields-of-use along with a sublicense option. Who owns N-001 and the related patents? Did Neurocarrus develop and own N-001 and the related patents or is Neurocarrus a licensee? If so, what is the length of time of the exclusive license?
  - A: Hello Dennis, the two issued patents are owned by U .Nebraska. That is why they are licensed. N-001 was invented by me and my coworkers at that university while I was a professor there. The license is in perpetuity. FYI: As you can see in my recent update, the newly filed patent application about the utility of N-001 for migraine treatment will be wholly owned by Neurocarrus.
- Q: Full-year EXPAREL net product sales was $536.9 million in 2022, compared with $506.5 million in 2021. Can N-001 do better than this?
  - A: We certainly hope so particularly if N-001 duration of action continues to exceed that of EXPAREL.
- Q: Will Neurocarrus benefit from the NOPAIN Act, or only after full FDA approval...?
  - A: Hello Ronald, Our drug would have to get FDA approval first then it could qualify for the Nopain act.
- Q: I know too much on valuation comps. 11.25 mil valuation is too high for a pre-revenue company here. What's the total paid in capital for the company- only about $3.6 million and you haven't even submitted an IND yet? How do you rationalize this valuation? I do find the product interesting, although an injection doesn't sound practical. Can you talk more about the injection approach as well as the patch approach? The patch application sounds way more exciting and practical. About how many years until the company is producing revenues? I saw in the video you estimate $250 million at some point and even more than that later down the line. What's the timeline to possibly reach these sorts of numbers? It's hard to see the upside in this company at a 11.25 mil valuation because even if you reach sales in say two years, and do $100k, $1mil, or even $10mil, the valuation of the company would likely be between the $40-50 mil range at best, but there's a large unknown. You need to raise more funding- minimum of $500k which shouldn't be an issue but upwards of $10 mil or more if doing your own manufacturing. This is a big unknown and big potential hinderance to the company if it's the $10 mil number. Also, It's funny that @Kurt Stahlfeld posted Sept. 2023 that a low, private, market return can turn away investors, but really if you want investors to jump in early you need to make it attractive and underprice or appropriately price the valuation. I may possibly jump on board on this one at the 11.25 mil price simply because of the space it's in and the new application, but again, I don't love the idea of the injection route. Imagine injecting yourself every 8/12/24 hours. I had two shoulder surgeries this summer and was prescribed Oxycodone. I took it around the clock as prescribed. I could only imagine the inconvenience and dreaded-ness in having to inject yourself to relieve pain. Shedding light on the patch more and the injection- how they're administered, who they're administered by, how often administered, any further clarity here would be much appreciated. At the end of the day, if the company is successful and has an exit value of $50/100mil or possibly unlikely so hits unicorn status, in any of these successful cases, there's an immaterial difference between $11.25 mil valuation and say an $8 mil valuation, which seems to be previously posted and discussed.
  - A: Hello Michael, The company's valuation is based on several conventional methods including that used by IndieBio and its parent, SOSV, the largest startup investor in the world. It is typical for drug development startup companies because of the large jumps in valuation that accompany key milestones. About how the drug is administered, yes by injection like most drugs for severe pain except opioids. Alternatively, patches can work as well. Frequency of taking the drug is key. Our preclinical animal data show one dose lasts up to two weeks putting N-001 in a class all its own. With additional funding, this may be extendable. Overall, we want to target the drug to the location of the body experiencing pain and avoid systemic exposure. This is already done because the drug only affects sensory neurons. Targeting is the wave of the future in drug development.
- Q: Is this drug the human equivalent of the canine drug Librela with respect to its method of action?
  - A: Hello Glenn, Librela is an antibody that targets nerve growth factor, so no, the Neurocarrus drug is very very different.
- Q: Please post any big updates under the update section. Curious investors are unable to see any update information.
  - A: Hello Adam, just posted a major update about the new finding that the Neurocarrus drug may treat migraines.
- Q: Any updates on this? I reserved a spot for this round in September and there have been no updates/progress for the round since October of last year..?
  - A: Hello Matt, all private investors were sent multiple email updates recently.
- Q: Hi, Paul. When do you believe revenue will really start to take off?
  - A: After successful clinical trials. 
- Q: Fascinating MOA. I am a retired endocrinologist and treating diabetic neuropathic pain is very challenging. N-001 looks very promising for this indication. My question is foot pain is diffuse covering a large area or most of the foot. Will a single patch work? Or how do you envision treating this condition? Also what is your plan for treating joint pain? Will this be SQ injections around the entire joint, i.e. how far does a SQ injection of N-001 penetrate? Also joint and low back pain tend to be chronic. I assume that patients will need to visit their doctor on a relatively frequent basis to treat chronic pain (getting injections of N-001)? Thanks.
  - A: Treatment of diabetic neuropathy would emphasize patch application at the primary location of pain. Patches could be any size and if more area needs treatment, more patches could be applied. As for joint pain, yes the drug would need to be delivered more deeply to the tissue. We don't know about depth of penetration other than as it relates to the needle penetration. Chronic pain treatment would likely required repeated visists but at the moment in animal models one dose lasts for 2 weeks.
- Q: As compared to traditional opiates, how quickly does the treatment start to make pain disappear? And how long does it last? Other pros / cons vs opiates?
  - A: This is an important question. Because opioids must be taken frequently (usually daily) we concentrated on testing our drug for its duration of action relieving pain. Recently we found a single dose lasts 13 days. Now we are testing how rapidly the drug works. Recent results indicate pain relief within 2-3 hr but we have more testing to do. The key benefit of our drug relative to opioids is the lack of addiction and other side effects. Our drug acts locally on pain because it is administered locally (like an anaesthetic). It cannot cross into the brain, it does not act systemically.
- Q: Hello, I have just found your company information and I would love to become an investor as I am someone who can benefit from the treatment. How would someone as myself see about becoming one of the humans you test this on when it gets approved. I am a Chronic Pain patient and tired of all the meds I am currently on. This is a great adventure and I hope to be involved on both ends. Lisa
  - A: Hi there I completely understand your interest, me too, also a chronic pain person and partly why I’m going to get this drug available for pain. Clinical trials are the earliest time the drug can be tested. I’m first in line because I want to benefit and derisk it, and since you asked you can be second!
- Q: Investor comment for those on the sidelines: Neurocarrus is a stand out of sorts in that they can meet a giant unmet need (the need to stop using / eliminate opiates), they have intellectual property protection, they have a product that is well proven at an early stage (animal testing has proven it stops pain for the needed amount of time to eliminate the use of opiates post-surgery), and they have a very clean cap table at only $4M invested to date. The Team’s ability to attract grant funding has been instrumental to keeping a tight cap table, and that story only gets better as the next ~ $500K invested unlocks another non-dilutive $2.7M grant. No investment is a sure thing, but Neurocarrus looks like a low risk bargain if you can afford to wait until they get through enough clinical trials to get acquired or get to market.