Print“The MRF and the NIH see a tremendous opportunity to investigate the repurposing of this drug to protect and repair myelin in multiple sclerosis patients, says Scott Johnson, the foundation's CEO, president and founder.”
The Myelin Repair Foundation, a non-profit research group focused on multiple sclerosis, will work with the National Institutes of Health to assess a possible new therapy for the inflammatory disease.
The foundation says its new Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the agency will facilitate collaboration between it and National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke at the NIH Clinical Center to study MRF-008, a drug identified by the MRF as a potential neuroprotective therapeutic to enhance repair in multiple sclerosis patients.
“The MRF and the NIH see a tremendous opportunity to investigate the repurposing of this drug to protect and repair myelin in multiple sclerosis patients,” says Scott Johnson, the foundation's CEO, president and founder.
The compound to be studied is already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of hypertension. But the foundation's academic research consortium has identified its potential as a novel drug-repurposing candidate for neuroprotection to stimulate MS repair.
“As a non-profit organization beholden to patients, not profits, we are uniquely positioned to advance MRF-008,” says Johnson. “With the NIH’s eminent expertise in MS clinical trials, we have found an exemplary partner to conduct the research necessary to assess MRF-008.”
The foundation will work closely with the NIH using a research model of its own making that is designed to bridge gaps from academic research to FDA approval.
The NIH research agreement builds on momentum the foundation established in July 2013, when it sub-licensed to MS-market leader Biogen Idec a novel mouse model for all demyelinating diseases, including multiple sclerosis. The mouse model is designed to facilitate discovery of drugs that can repair myelin damage from MS and other demyelinating diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and depression.
The foundation hopes to develop the first therapy to repair myelin, the fatty protective coating surrounding nerve fibers in the central nervous system, for MS by mid-2019.
January 27, 2014
http://www.burrillreport.com/article-non_profit_inks_ms_deal_with_nih.html
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