# Assessment of Peripherally Circulating Plasma Proteins and Clinical Risks toDifferentiate Epileptic Seizure from Psychogenic Nonepileptic Seizure

> **NIH NIH R43** · EVOGEN, INC. · 2020 · $55,000

## Abstract

Abstract
Accurately diagnosing epilepsy is very challenging and time consuming because clinicians rarely observe the
actual seizure, and there are many different types of seizures and epilepsy syndromes with differing
presentations. Furthermore, other neurological disorders can be mimics of seizures leading to erroneous
diagnosis, inappropriate treatments with significant potential adverse events, incorrect prognoses, and
significant waste of healthcare resources. A primary indication that is mistaken for epilepsy is psychogenic
non-epileptic seizure (PNES) which is commonly misdiagnosed even by seasoned clinicians. Patients that
suffer PNES events experience convulsive events which are similar to epileptic seizures but do not arise from
aberrant, synchronous, electrical activity in the brain. Rendering a definitive diagnosis of either PNES or
epilepsy is critical to long-term patient health and outcome. Currently, obtaining a definitive diagnosis of
epilepsy or PNES is expensive and inconvenient for patients as it may require inpatient evaluation and a
battery of costly tests. To address this unmet need Evogen’s predicate SBIR proposes to further develop an
accurate diagnostic blood test that can be used to stratify transient neurological events as either PNES or
epilepsy. This work will include collecting additional patient samples to confirm pilot results. Upon confirmation,
a streamlined development plan has been created to collect all of the information required for CLIA
accreditation and bring the test to market.
In tandem with scientific development, Evogen has developed an initial commercialization plan and with this I-
Corps administrative supplement we propose to create a comprehensive, effective, and multi-faceted
commercialization and launch plan. Our previous market research has established that patients and health
care professionals are overwhelmingly enthusiastic and ready to embrace such a test. In a survey of 115
physicians, 97% reported that they would be a “very likely” to use the test as part of their diagnostic workup for
suspected epilepsy patients. Evogen is eager to embark on the next step of our commercialization plan under
the auspices of the I-Corps program. Specifically, we hope to gain the tools necessary to thoroughly
understand our varied groups of customers, which consists not only of patients and medical providers, but also
healthcare systems and payors. To this end, we will embark on extensive research about how the latter two
groups in particular will receive our product, and test our initial pharmacoeconomic research on pricing and
reimbursement.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10044988
- **Project number:** 3R43NS113724-01S1
- **Recipient organization:** EVOGEN, INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** John Gledhill
- **Activity code:** R43 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $55,000
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2020-02-24 → 2021-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10044988

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10044988, Assessment of Peripherally Circulating Plasma Proteins and Clinical Risks toDifferentiate Epileptic Seizure from Psychogenic Nonepileptic Seizure (3R43NS113724-01S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10044988. Licensed CC0.

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