By Allan Maurer
ORLANDO, FL—Caring for the more than 6 million Americans who suffer from Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative diseases and 5.4 million debilitated by stroke, will cost more than $200 billion this year. “That’s bigger than the war in Iraq,” says NeoCytex co-founder, Nilabh Chaudhary. “So a method to regenerate brain cells will have a high impact.”
Chaudhary joined forces with co-founder Kiminobu Sugaya, inventor of NeoCytex’s technology (12 patents filed) to establish NeoCytex in 2006.
The company has received about $740,000 in National Institutes of Health grants and matching funds, including a small, $25,000 award from the Kentucky Enterprise Fund. It is seeking $5 million in venture backing.
Lead drug
NeoCytex is developing novel therapeutics to promote the repair and rejuvenation of damaged tissues. The lead drug candidate NBI-18 is being developed for speeding up recovery from neurodegenerative (Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s) and cerebrovascular diseases.
The product works by accelerating the production of healthy new cells from endogenous stem cells, enhancing the body’s natural ability to heal itself.
“We want to replace dead and dying neurons,” explains Chaudhary. He points out that neurodegenerative diseases progress slowly. In Parkinson’s, the first target for the company’s treatment, the neurons in a specific part of the brain die and when they do, the production of the neurotransmitter dopamine stops. Dopamine is essential for communication with another set of neurons that control motor function. Without it, Parkinson’s patients exhibit tremors and other symptoms.
Works in mice
The company has shown that its treatment regenerates brain cells and restores motor control in mouse models.
Sugaya is head of the stem cell laboratory at Central Florida University where he invented the technology.
While the treatment may eventually prove useful for a variety of problems, helping the pancreas make insulin for diabetic patients, for instance, as a startup, the company is focused on its treatments for neurodegenerative disorders, says Chaudhary.
“We know our limits,” he said. “But a treatment for neurodegenerative disorders is an immense need by any standards.”
The company currently has three principals, six advisors and a number of scientific consultants.
Chaudhary says the company hopes to meet a number of key milestones over the next three years. Those include taking its product through Phase I clinical trials. Eventually, it hopes to sign a licensing deal with a large pharmaceutical partner, says Chaudhary.
On the Web: www.neocytex.com
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