Innurex for nerve regrowth trials

[Guest guest]

(Note: I am wondering if this nerve repair therapy would work on CMT

nerves? Another piece of research to follow. ~ Gretchen)

Reuters Health Information

Oxford BioMedica Says It Will Start Nerve Repair Therapy Trials Within a

Year

By Woodman

LONDON (Reuters health) Dec 15 - British gene therapy company Oxford

BioMedica said on Monday it was on track to start clinical trials next

year of a novel therapy designed to restore nerve function after spinal

cord injuries.

It said early pre-clinical work in mice showed that its Innurex product

induced a high level of nerve regrowth, indicating its potential to be a

first-in-class product for nerve repair.

Innurex uses a viral vector to carry the RAR B2 gene to nerve cells at

the injury site, causing them to grow and forge new nerve connections.

Prof. Alan Kingsman, chief executive, said in a statement that proof of

principle had been established in less than two years and the product

was now " on course for clinical development within the next 12 months " .

He told Reuters Health it would be administered to patients who had just

been injured after an accident rather than to patients who had long been

paralysed, because old scars at the injury site may impede nerve repair.

Kingsman said nerve regrowth in the animal experiments was " an order of

magnitude greater " with Innurex compared with the results of other

groups using other nerve repair mechanisms.

The company acquired exclusive rights to the RAR B2 gene from King's

College London where the initial observation that this gene could

programme nerve cells to regrow in vitro was made.

Professor Malcolm Maden, head of the King's programme, said: " The

combination of the RAR B2 gene and the very efficient LentiVector

delivery system has produced a high level of axon regrowth. There is

every chance that this is enough for restoration of function to damaged

nerves and the company should have functional data shortly " .

The company, whose shares rose 5% after the announcement, said the

pre-clinical data were being presented at a conference in California and

would be sent for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.