teaser
Research into Huntington’s disease (HD) will be advanced by the ReNeuron Group licensing one of its lines of neural stem cells to BioFocus DPI, the service division of Galapagos.
BioFocus will use the cells – from the striatum, the part of the brain most commonly affected by Huntington’s – to validate HD drug targets.
The research is for the CHDI Foundation, a US-based non-profit organisation seeking to develop drugs that delay or slow the advance of the disease.
ReNeuron will receive licence fees, and boss Michael Hunt said: “We are delighted to be able to collaborate with BioFocus in the process of researching potential new drug targets for this devastating and currently untreatable disease.
“The cell line concerned has already shown its potential as a valid model of HD in the laboratory, and is a further demonstration of the versatility of our range of stem cell lines for therapeutic and drug research applications.”
BioFocus biological sciences spokeswoman Kate Hilyard added: “This will further our understanding of a potential target’s role in the HD pathway and identify the most promising intervention points for drug discovery.”
Copyright Press Association 2009
