OXEIA TO HOST INVESTOR WEBINAR WITH NFL’S ALEX SMITH ON WHAT COULD BECOME THE FIRST FDA-APPROVED CONCUSSION TREATMENT

Oxeia’s Regulation Crowdfunding Round on StartEngine Nears Close; Features CEO Michael Wyand, Board Member and NFL QB Alex Smith, Trauma Surgeon Vishal Bansal

BOSTON, MA, UNITED STATES, September 14, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Oxeia Biopharmaceuticals will host a live investor webinar on September 17, 2026, from 2:00 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. EDT (11:00 a.m. PDT) featuring CEO Dr. Michael Wyand, Board Member and former NFL quarterback Alex Smith, and Co-Founder and trauma surgeon Dr. Vishal Bansal. The company’s public funding round closes on September 24.

First described in medical texts nearly 4,000 years ago, there is still no drug approved to treat concussion. Between 1.4 and 4.2 million Americans a year are left with symptoms that persist for months or longer: headaches, memory trouble, sleep disruption, an inability to return to work or school. The standard of care remains rest, symptom management, and a slow return to activity.

Oxeia is developing OXE103 to help those suffering from this age-old problem. In a clinical study at the University of Kansas Medical Center, 85% of patients treated with OXE103 responded, compared with 33% receiving standard care alone. The results were published in the peer-reviewed journal Neurotrauma Reports.

The company will discuss next steps on September 17th and why the timing of this round is especially important. OXE103 is a synthetic form of ghrelin, a naturally occurring hormone. Oxeia licensed a completed development package from Daiichi Sankyo covering nine studies and more than 300 patients. Because that human safety work already exists, the FDA confirmed Oxeia does not need to repeat any additional safety or preclinical studies before beginning its next and largest trial. The company estimates that shortcut removed five to seven years and as much as $200 million from the development timeline.

“There has never been an FDA-accepted way to measure whether a concussion drug works, because no one has ever gotten far enough to need one,” said Dr. Michael Wyand, CEO of Oxeia. “That is the meeting we are walking into this fall. Most companies at our stage are still years and tens of millions of dollars away from a conversation like that. The safety work is done and the agency has cleared us to proceed.”

Oxeia’s next trial is the one that matters to the largest drug companies. In a peer-reviewed analysis of 311 biopharmaceutical acquisitions in the United States and Europe, the single most common moment for a large pharmaceutical company to acquire a drug program was not at approval and not at the earliest research stage. It was after a therapy had shown it worked in patients but before it had absorbed the cost of final-stage development. That accounted for 33% of all transactions in the dataset, more than any other stage. Oxeia is approaching that moment.

For decades, efforts to make sports safer have focused on improved helmets, better protocols, and rule changes. While these measures remain important, they do not address the underlying biological effects of concussion. Oxeia believes the next major advance in concussion care will come from science.
Smith joined Oxeia’s Board of Directors because of his commitment to improving outcomes for people affected by concussion and traumatic brain injury.
“For a hundred years, the answer after a concussion has been rest and wait,” said Smith. “That was the answer when I was ten years old, and it was still the answer at the end of my career. Helmets and rule changes matter, but they do not treat the injury. What matters to me now is that someone is finally doing the science, and that the FDA is being asked to define what recovery actually looks like. That is why I am on this board.”

Unlike many early-stage biotechnology companies, Oxeia reaches this point with substantial clinical and regulatory groundwork already completed. Key points include:
An 85% responder rate in a pilot study compared with 33% for standard care alone, published in Neurotrauma Reports and registered as NCT04558346.
A licensing agreement providing access to Daiichi Sankyo’s completed clinical development package, including nine studies and four human safety trials.
More than 300 patients already dosed in prior ghrelin studies, providing an established human safety and tolerability record.
FDA confirmation that no additional preclinical or safety studies are required before the next trial begins.
Work underway with the FDA to validate the measurement Oxeia will use to prove the drug works, led by Laurie Burke, former FDA Associate Director for Study Endpoints and Label Development. No such agency-accepted measure exists for concussion today.
A next trial designed for 160 to 180 patients across 10 to 14 clinical sites, randomized and placebo-controlled.
A leadership team whose prior biotechnology companies sold for approximately $9 billion combined.

During the webinar, company leadership will explain the science behind OXE103, what the patient results showed, what the FDA meeting is intended to establish, what the next trial is designed to prove, and will answer questions live from attendees. Oxeia’s Regulation Crowdfunding offering closes at 11:59 p.m. PT on Thursday, September 24, 2026, one week after the event.

To register for the webinar, visit: https://luma.com/5i47xcc8
To review the offering and invest before it closes, visit: https://www.startengine.com/offering/oxeia-biopharma

ABOUT OXEIA BIOPHARMACEUTICALS
Oxeia Biopharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing OXE103 for people with symptoms that persist after a concussion. The company’s leadership team has participated in biotechnology exits totaling approximately $9 billion, including Arena Pharmaceuticals’ acquisition by Pfizer and Kythera Biopharmaceuticals’ acquisition by Allergan.

REGULATION CROWDFUNDING DISCLOSURE
This Reg CF offering is made available through StartEngine Primary LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. This investment is speculative, illiquid, and involves a high degree of risk, including the possible loss of your entire investment. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy securities.

OXE103 is an investigational therapy that has not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The study described above was a small pilot study; its results do not guarantee outcomes in a larger trial. Historical biopharmaceutical acquisition patterns are provided as market context only and are not indicative of any outcome for Oxeia. Team members’ prior experience is not indicative of future results.

Frank Pietrucha
Oxeia Biopharmaceuticals
+1 2022537376
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