MS Therapy closer to reality
Posted on April 17th, 2008 – 4:38 PMBy Thomas Lee
An alliance between the University of Minnesota, Mayo Clinic, and then state moved one step closer to commercializing promising research to treat multiple sclerosis.
The Minnesota Partnership for Biotechnology and Medical Genomics announced today that an antibody developed by a Mayo neurologist has been transferred to a processing plant in Minneapolis where it will begin full clinical development.
The antibody, known as rHIgM22, helps ignite repair or regrowth of a sheath that surrounds nerve cells. Damage to that sheath causes MS, a progressive disease that leaves patients permanently disabled.
The antibody was produced and purified in the Biotherapeutic Protein Production Laboratory at the U’s St. Paul campus. The lab was created by a Partnership grant in 2006.
The idea behind the Partnership is to position Minnesota as a leader in biotechnology and medical genomics at at time when other states race to attract biotech dollars and personnel. To do that, the partnership encourages collaboration between the state’s two premiere research institutions, the U and Mayo Clinic, to speed commercialization of promising drugs and treatments to market.
Acorda Therapeutics Inc., a $40 million publicly traded company based in Hawthorne, New York, is licensing the antibody.
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