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December 16, 1998
- NRC and Neurochem to Collaborate on Alzheimer's Disease Research.
The National Research Council (NRC) and Neurochem Inc. today announced a collaborative
research agreement to identify potential therapeutics for Alzheimer’s disease (AD).
In the alliance, Neurochem and NRC’s Institute for Biological Sciences (IBS) will
collaborate in the development of assays to identify therapeutic compounds that inhibit
the formation of amyloid fibrils in the central nervous system (CNS). Selected screening
and cellular assay technology will be transferred to Neurochem from NRC.
A progressive loss of neuronal cells has been seen in brains of patients with AD and this
loss appears to be linked to the deposition of amyloid fibrils.
By inhibiting amyloid deposition in the brain of patients with AD, it is hoped that
neuronal cell loss will be reduced thus alleviating symptoms associated with AD.
In collaboration with NRC’s Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP), Neurochem
has identified a number of key biological techniques at NRC that would accelerate its
efforts to develop treatments for AD. This expertise is resident in the laboratories of
Dr. Jon Durkin and Dr. Danica Stanimirovic of IBS’ Cellular Neurobiology Group.
These techniques will be adapted for Neurochem’s need for high efficiency compound
screening. These consist of:
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in vitro models of blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability; and,
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neuronal and glial cell models for measurement of neurotoxicity and for
the evaluation of the protective ability of Neurochem's compounds against
amyloid toxicity.
"When combined with Neurochem’s strengths in drug design and amyloid
biochemistry, the recognized scientific expertise of Drs. Durkin and Stanimirovic
provide formidable tools for Alzheimer’s disease compound selection," said
Dr. Louis Lamontagne, President of Neurochem. "Furthermore, this alliance will
provide our company with expertise upon which to grow Neurochem’s platform for
CNS drug delivery."
The major objective of the NRC-Neurochem agreement is to perfect an integrated
screening system for the characterization of CNS therapeutics, initially for AD.
Together, NRC and Neurochem will identify new compounds from a variety of chemical
classes that inhibit the formation of amyloid in vitro and cross the BBB.
Neurochem Inc. is a leading-edge Canadian biopharmaceutical company. Established in
1993, the company is an industry leader in the development of a novel, proprietary
series of compounds that inhibits the formation, deposition and cellular detrimental
effects of amyloid fibrils as determined in in vitro and in vivo assays.
Neurochem’s research team has been working with leading amyloid experts at the
University of Oxford, Queen’s University and the University of Toronto. The company
has completed Phase I clinical trials for its lead compound in systemic amyloidosis and
is now ready to advance its lead compound to human clinical trials for Alzheimer’s
disease.
Dr. Francine Gervais, Neurochem’s Vice-President of Research & Development,
stated "With the expertise of Dr. Jon Durkin, in the culturing and manipulation
of neurons we will increase our screening throughput, therefore accelerating the
identification of neuroprotective compounds. The in vitro models of the human
BBB that will be transferred to our company by Dr. Danica Stanimirovic will have
immediate and long-term applications in a number of our CNS research programs."
In support of NRC’s vision of carrying out focussed research in collaboration
with industrial partners, IRAP’s and IBS’ mandate is to help develop an
innovative, knowledge-based economy. To achieve this objective, NRC and IBS use an
entrepreneurial approach to ensure the transfer of their knowledge and technology to
small- and medium-sized Canadian-based health and biotechnology/pharmaceutical firms.
This approach facilitates and accelerates their product development and commercialization
programs.
IBS is located in Ottawa, Ontario. IRAP is a Canada-wide network of industrial technology
advisors. Neurochem Inc. is located in Ville St-Laurent’s Technoparc (Metropolitan
Montreal), Canada’s largest research park.
For more information contact:
Sandra Crossfield
NRC Media Relations
(613)998-0761
sandra.crossfield@nrc.ca
Dr. Lise Hébert
Vice President, Corporate Communications
lhebert@neurochem.com
275 Armand-Frappier
Laval (Quebec) H7V 4A7
tel: (450) 680-4500
fax: (450) 680-4501
webinfo@neurochem.com
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