Araim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a privately-held biopharmaceutical company incorporated in 2006 for the purpose of researching and developing proprietary tissue-protective molecules having broad anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic activities that can benefit a large number of injuries and diseases. Araim’s technology is based on novel molecules that target a recently-identified cell surface receptor utilized by a ubiquitous and powerful endogenous counter-regulator of the inflammatory cascade. Araim’s compounds inhibit apoptosis, pro-inflammatory cytokine production and their adverse sequelae in injured organs such as the brain, heart, kidney and peripheral nervous system.  In numerous acute and chronic preclinical models, Araim’s compounds have proven efficacious in brain and peripheral nerve injury, renal ischemia, wound healing, myocardial infarction, chronic heart disease, and diabetic complications, among many others. Araim’s lead compound, ARA 290, has undergone phase 1 safety testing in humans and is now being evaluated in several proof-of-concept studies in diseases including diabetic neuropathy, neuropathic pain in sarcoidosis patients, and rheumatoid arthritis, and in normal subjects for cognitive effects that may translate into utility for severe depression.  In contrast to the endogenous protein erythropoietin whose tissue protective activity ARA 290 mimics, ARA 290 is a short peptide that has shown no safety concerns in a large preclinical study battery or in human studies, and has facile manufacturing and storage requirements. Araim intends to identify the most promising patient populations for its lead compound, and proceed into expanded clinical studies, eagerly anticipating that ARA 290 will significantly improve the quality of life for patients debilitated by chronic diseases currently lacking effective therapies.