Study indicates potential for TauC3 to be disease-modifying.
ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, NJ, USA I January 16, 2014 I Intellect Neurosciences, Inc. (ILNS), a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and development of disease-modifying therapeutic and diagnostic agents for the treatment of Alzheimer’s and other neurological diseases, today announced it obtained proof of concept in a preclinical Alzheimer’s model for its TauC3 monoclonal antibody indicating its potential to be disease modifying. The study was conducted in collaboration with University of California, Irvine’s Dr. Frank LaFerla, Chancellor’s Professor and Chair, Neurobiology and Behavior School of Biological Sciences, Director, Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders as well as Dr. Kim Green and his team. The data showed that the TauC3 antibody effectively engaged the target and reduced certain phosphorylated pathological forms of Tau indicating that the treatment with the peripherally administered antibody had an effect in the brain and is able to be disease modifying. The investigators aim to publish the full data in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.
TauC3 specifically targets a fragment of Tau protein that is believed to result from beta-amyloid (“Aβ”) induced cleavage of full length Tau by apoptotic caspase enzymes, early in the disease process leading to neuronal loss. The truncated tau (“delta tau”, aka “TauC3” fragment) displays increased rates and extents of polymerization in vitro compared with wild-type full-length tau, suggesting a role for tau truncation in neurofibrillary tangle formation. Recently Professor Bradley Hyman’s laboratory at Harvard Medical School also showed a critical role of this fragment in oligomeric Aβ-induced synaptic loss near Aβ plaques in the AD brain providing a mechanistic link between oligomeric Aβ and tau in AD (Polydoro et al., AAIC 2013, P2-048).
“We are gratified by this compelling proof of concept data independently generated by our collaborators at the University of California, Irvine.” said Mr. Elliot Maza, a director of Intellect Neurosciences. “These important new data and growing strength of our revitalized patent portfolio, including the recent patent Allowance from the USPTO in relation to the TOC-1 monoclonal antibody targeting oligomeric tau, underscore our leadership in this area and should attract significant renewed interest from the pharmaceutical industry”.
Intellect Neurosciences holds worldwide development and commercialization rights to TauC3 under an exclusive license agreement with Northwestern University. Also, Intellect owns pending patent applications relating to antibodies targeting fragments of Tau in the brain for treatment of Alzheimer’s and other tauopathies (e.g. Chain, 2011: Treatment of Tauopathies, WO 2012/106363 published November 15, 2012).
About Intellect Neurosciences
Intellect Neurosciences, Inc. develops innovative approaches aimed at arresting or preventing Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases, with a specific focus on proteinopathies. Intellect’s pipeline includes, antibodies and neuroprotective antibody drug conjugates. For more information, please visit http://www.intellectns.com.
SOURCE: Intellect Neurosciences
Post Views: 58
Study indicates potential for TauC3 to be disease-modifying.
ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, NJ, USA I January 16, 2014 I Intellect Neurosciences, Inc. (ILNS), a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and development of disease-modifying therapeutic and diagnostic agents for the treatment of Alzheimer’s and other neurological diseases, today announced it obtained proof of concept in a preclinical Alzheimer’s model for its TauC3 monoclonal antibody indicating its potential to be disease modifying. The study was conducted in collaboration with University of California, Irvine’s Dr. Frank LaFerla, Chancellor’s Professor and Chair, Neurobiology and Behavior School of Biological Sciences, Director, Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders as well as Dr. Kim Green and his team. The data showed that the TauC3 antibody effectively engaged the target and reduced certain phosphorylated pathological forms of Tau indicating that the treatment with the peripherally administered antibody had an effect in the brain and is able to be disease modifying. The investigators aim to publish the full data in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.
TauC3 specifically targets a fragment of Tau protein that is believed to result from beta-amyloid (“Aβ”) induced cleavage of full length Tau by apoptotic caspase enzymes, early in the disease process leading to neuronal loss. The truncated tau (“delta tau”, aka “TauC3” fragment) displays increased rates and extents of polymerization in vitro compared with wild-type full-length tau, suggesting a role for tau truncation in neurofibrillary tangle formation. Recently Professor Bradley Hyman’s laboratory at Harvard Medical School also showed a critical role of this fragment in oligomeric Aβ-induced synaptic loss near Aβ plaques in the AD brain providing a mechanistic link between oligomeric Aβ and tau in AD (Polydoro et al., AAIC 2013, P2-048).
“We are gratified by this compelling proof of concept data independently generated by our collaborators at the University of California, Irvine.” said Mr. Elliot Maza, a director of Intellect Neurosciences. “These important new data and growing strength of our revitalized patent portfolio, including the recent patent Allowance from the USPTO in relation to the TOC-1 monoclonal antibody targeting oligomeric tau, underscore our leadership in this area and should attract significant renewed interest from the pharmaceutical industry”.
Intellect Neurosciences holds worldwide development and commercialization rights to TauC3 under an exclusive license agreement with Northwestern University. Also, Intellect owns pending patent applications relating to antibodies targeting fragments of Tau in the brain for treatment of Alzheimer’s and other tauopathies (e.g. Chain, 2011: Treatment of Tauopathies, WO 2012/106363 published November 15, 2012).
About Intellect Neurosciences
Intellect Neurosciences, Inc. develops innovative approaches aimed at arresting or preventing Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases, with a specific focus on proteinopathies. Intellect’s pipeline includes, antibodies and neuroprotective antibody drug conjugates. For more information, please visit http://www.intellectns.com.
SOURCE: Intellect Neurosciences
Post Views: 58
