Acorda expects to advance pre-clinical development immediately on GGF2, in preparation for human clinical trials in multiple sclerosis (MS). The earlier stage product, NRG2, has potential applications in MS, spinal cord injury (SCI), Parkinson's disease and chronic heart failure. Acorda will also expand the existing, widespread network of academic collaborators involved in this high-potential area of CNS research.
Ron Cohen, M.D., Acorda's President and CEO said, "This acquisition adds an important new product to our existing remyelination program, which includes the M1 remyelinating monoclonal antibody technology. Together, these technologies give Acorda a dominant position in remyelinating therapeutics. Current MS therapies work by slowing the progression of the disease but do not address the permanent demyelination that leads to the disabilities associated with that condition. Neuregulins act to stimulate the regrowth of myelin, thereby offering an entirely new type of therapeutic agent than ones currently available for MS. The neuregulins also have potential to be therapeutic in other acute or degenerative disorders of the CNS, such as SCI, peripheral neuropathies and Parkinson's disease."
About Neuregulins
Neuregulin-1 is a gene, the products of which include Glial Growth Factor 2 (GGF2). GGF2 is known to stimulate the growth and differentiation of glial cells, the support cells of the nervous system. These glial cells form the myelin sheath that insulates nerve cells and is essential for their proper functioning. In demyelinating diseases such as multiple sclerosis, the myelin sheath is damaged or l
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Contact: Tierney Saccavino, Acorda Therapeutics
tsaccavino@acorda.com
914-347-4300
Porter Novelli
13-Nov-2002