Archive: Company News
Company News: Nanobiotix and Thomas Jefferson University Start Research Collaboration
– Nanomedicine and Medical Education leaders are joining their forces in the United States to accelerate the development of NanoXray –
Nanobiotix, a company developing novel cancer nanotherapeutics and Thomas Jefferson University, one of Philadelphia’s premier medical and health sciences universities, today announced that they have entered into a research collaboration to accelerate the development of Nanobiotix’ lead compound NBTXR3 in the US.
Under the terms of the collaboration agreement, Nanobiotix will fund a 2-year preclinical research program, which will be directed by Bo Lu, MD, Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Jefferson and Director of the department’s Division of Molecular Radiation Biology. The goal of the program is to study the therapeutic efficacy of NBTXR3, the lead product of Nanobiotix´ NanoXray pipeline.
NBTXR3, a nanoparticle consisting of hafnium oxide crystals, aims to enhance the local destruction of the tumor mass during radiotherapy. It accumulates in the cancer cells and, upon radiation, emits huge amounts of electrons leading to the formation of free radicals. These, in turn, damage the cancer cells and cause their targeted destruction. As a result, the destructive power of standard radiation therapy is locally and selectively enhanced within the tumor cells.
NBTXR3 has been classified in the EU as class III medical device and is currently being tested in a European Phase I trial to establish feasibility and safety of NBTXR3 in patients with soft tissue sarcoma. Preliminary data are expected by the end of 2012. Further clinical trials are in preparation in Europe and in the US, where NBTXR3 is classified as a drug.
Company News: Probiodrug AG, Collaborators Explain Interplay of Key Suspects in Alzheimer’s Disease
Nature paper demonstrates that toxicity in AD is induced by pyroglutamate Abeta and is tau protein dependent
Pyroglutamate Ab (“pyroglu Ab”) a predominant, highly toxic fraction of Aβ found in the brains of Alzheimer’s disease patients, triggers the formation of toxic oligomers exhibiting prion-like behavior and initiating neurotoxicity via a tau protein-dependent pathway, thereby explaining the crucial role of such modified Aβ in the onset and spread of neuronal toxicity in Alzheimer’s Disease.
HALLE/SAALE, Germany, May 2, 2012 – Probiodrug AG (Probiodrug), a biotech company developing products for the treatment of neurodegenerative and inflammatory diseases with a particular focus on Alzheimer’s disease (AD), today announced its scientists and academics collaborators published seminal findings on the role of pyroglu Aβ in AD pathology in the May 2, 2012 online edition of the journal Nature (DOI: 10.1038/nature11060). The new findings add to the growing body of evidence that pyroglu Aβ plays a crucial role in the initiation of AD. In addition, the research results further elucidate the mechanism by which pyroglu Aβ triggers neuronal toxicity.
The data published today suggest that pyroglu Aβ co-aggregates with “normal” Ab peptides to form low molecular weight oligomers (LMOs), which are structurally distinct and far more toxic to cultured neurons than oligomers derived from normal Aβ. Moreover, the presence of the neuronal protein tau is essential for toxicity mediated by LMOs that contain pyroglu Aβ. The results have been substantiated in transgenic mice designed to express increased levels of pyroglu Aβ. In these animals, the pyroglu Aβ-mediated neuronal loss and gliosis was prevented, if tau expression was shut down. The study is supplemented by results published in the Journal of Neurochemistry. Here the Probiodrug researchers reveal, that the aggregation propensity is caused by the hydrophobic nature of pyroglu Aβ.
The scientists also were able to demonstrate that the cytotoxicity is propagated by a prion-like templating mechanism of Ab misfolding initiated by pyroglu Ab: even after strong dilution to a solution containing only 0.000625% pyroglu Ab, the mix after 24h developed enough toxicity to kill 50% of neurons treated with it.
Company News: InDex Pharmaceuticals Granted US Patent for Novel Treatment of Steroid-Resistant Inflammation
InDex Pharmaceuticals today announced that it has been granted a patent by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The patent provides additional protection for the use of Kappaproct® and additional DNA-based immunomodulatory sequences (DIMS) for the treatment of steroid-resistant inflammatory diseases including inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, asthma, emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
The patent, entitled “Method for Modulating Responsiveness to Steroids” covers a method for enhancing steroid efficacy in steroid-refractory patients afflicted with an inflammatory condition using oligonucleotides with a specific common core sequence. It provides an exclusivity period until June 2027 with the possibility of a 3 to 5-year term extension after market approval. A corresponding European patent was granted in August 2009.
InDex Pharmaceuticals develops DIMS compounds that are synthetic oligonucleotides that function as immunomodulatory agents by targeting the Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9). The company’s most advanced DIMS product candidate, Kappaproct, is currently in a phase III study in Europe for the treatment of chronic, active, treatment-refractory ulcerative colitis.
Company News: Nanobiotix Appoints Bernd Muehlenweg as a Member of the Executive Board
Nanobiotix has appointed Dr. Bernd Muehlenweg, currently Head of Business Development, as a member of the Executive Board in support of the future growth of Nanobiotix.
Bernd Muehlenweg joined Nanobiotix in 2011 as Head of Business Development. From 2001 to 2011, he had been Director Business Development of oncology company WILEX AG (Munich, Germany), where he played a key role in the negotiation and execution of several license and commercialization agreements with pharma companies and in alliance management. He is a member of the Pharma Licensing Club of Germany (Pharmalizenzclub) and of the Pharma Licensing Club of France.