| We indeed believe that this represents a new approach to the delivery of proteins to the central nervous system and see a multitude of applications in regenerative therapies for neurological disorders. -Lars U. Wahlberg, MD, PhD, executive vice president and COO, NsGene |
The implanted device, called NsG0202, secretes nerve growth factor, a protein that has been shown to have neuroprotective and regenerative effects when delivered to diseased neurons in certain areas of the brain, according to NsGene. The device is implanted in a precise anatomic location using stereotactic surgery guided by magnetic resonance imaging.
Surgeons at Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm performed the implantations in three patients with Alzheimer's disease. The principal investigator in the study, Maria Eriksdotter Jönhagen, MD, PhD, an associate professor in the department of geriatrics at Karolinska, points out that if no problems are seen by the six-month mark, the number of patients will be doubled. "If safety and tolerability in these patients is good, the next step is to implant another three patients in the fall and carefully follow all patients for a year to study long-term effects," Dr. Jönhagen says.
Early results of the study will be presented at the European Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery meeting in October, says Lars U. Wahlberg, MD, PhD, executive vice president and chief operating officer of NsGene. Dr. Wahlberg adds that the company hopes the encapsulated cell technology will be applicable for use with other proteins and other disease states.
"We anticipate a pipeline of products based on this technology in combination with other factors or antibodies," he tells PFQ . "For example, we are currently working in Parkinson's disease to deliver GDNF [glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor] in a program sponsored by the Michael J. Fox Foundation. We indeed believe that this represents a new approach to the delivery of proteins to the central nervous system and see a multitude of applications in regenerative therapies for neurological disorders."
He says the company is open to collaborations with other biopharmaceutical companies to deliver specific factors or antibodies or to collaborate on specific indications. For now, the next step is to move forward in the Alzheimer's research with dose escalation and then to plan Phase II trials, preferably with a partner, Dr. Wahlberg says. "In the Parkinson's and epilepsy programs, we are a |
