12Jan96 USA: DRIVE FOR SPINAL CENTER BEGUN. IRVINE LEAD: With the help of actor Christopher Reeve and Orange County
philanthropist Joan Irvine Smith, UC Irvine officials have launched a"New discoveries would enhance the chances for recovery of function," Reeve, who is famous for his film role as Superman, said Wednesday. He was paralyzed seven months ago when he was thrown from a horse while riding in Virginia and shattered two neck vertebrae.10Dec95 USA: ATHENA NEUROSCIENCES INC ANNOUNCES UK PRODUCT LICENCE APPLICATION FOR ZANAFLEX.
Athena Neurosciences Inc today announced that its UK subsidiary, Athena Neurosciences (Europe) Ltd, has submitted a Product Licence Application to the UK Medicines Control Agency (MCA) for Zanaflex (tizanidine hydrochloride), an alpha-2-adrenergic agonist indicated for the treatment of spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis and of SPINAL CORD origin.
Athena licensed Zanaflex, which is approved in 48 countries, from Sandoz Pharma Ltd. The MCA's review period for considering new molecules is around six months. If Zanaflex is held to be approvable Athena would expect to introduce the product before end 1996.
Athena Neurosciences Inc., 800 Gateway Boulevard, South San Francisco, CA
94080. Tel: . Fax:
(c) Royal Society of Chemistry 1995.
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30Nov95 UK: DOCTORS FIND POSSIBLE WAY TO MEND DAMAGED SPINES. LONDON, Nov 29 (Reuter) - Doctors reported on Wednesday they had found a way to make the damaged spinal cords of rats re-generate themselves. In a report in the science journal Nature, Barbara Bregman of Georgetown University in Washington and colleagues said they had not only induced rat spines to heal, but the paralysed animals had regained movement in some limbs.
Spinal cord injuries are especially traumatic because the cord, which carries signals from the brain to the rest of the body, usually cannot repair itself. One reason is that there is a growth-inhibiting substance in myelin, which insulates nerves. Bregman's group used a monoclonal antibody, a protein that can locate and attach to a specific cell, to neutralise this substance. "These observations suggest that in the future, specific intervention strategies could improve the functional outcome of spinal cord injury in humans by increasing anatomical plasticity and regeneration," they wrote. But Clifford Woolf, anatomist at University College, London, said the findings, while hopeful, should be viewed with caution. "The recovery is partial and incomplete," he said, adding that human spinal cords are different from those of rats. "Nevertheless, this is a genuine step forward," he added in a commentary in Nature.
(c) Reuters Limited 1995
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29Nov95 USA: REGENERON ANNOUNCES PUBLICATION OF NEW SPINAL CORD REGENERATION RESULTS.
Animal studies indicate treatment with antibodies to neurite growth
inhibitors can lead to significant regeneration of spinal cord neurons and restore function; Company holds exclusive license to neurite growth inhibitor technology.
TARRYTOWN, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 29, 1995--Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:REGN) announced that scientists working under the direction of Professor Martin Schwab, of the Brain Research Institute of the University of Switzerland, today published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature their findings in animal studies that injured spinal cord nerve cells regenerated and regained certain functions after application of antibodies that block a neurite growth inhibitor previously characterized by Dr. Schwab. According to the report, this discovery could have future implications in the
treatment of spinal cord injuries. Regeneron has an exclusive license to Dr. Schwab's technology relating to neurite growth inhibitors.
Unlike the peripheral nervous system, where damaged nerve cells are able to regrow their fibers, there is little regrowth of nerve fibers (neurites) in the brain or spinal cord. Researchers had previously shown that central nervous system nerve cells are, however, capable of regrowth when placed outside of the central nervous system environment. This led Dr. Schwab and his colleagues to propose that this difference might be explained by the presence of specific proteins in the central nervous system that actively inhibit nerve regrowth. Based on this idea, Dr. Schwab and his colleagues
have previously shown that the administration of antibodies to such a neurite growth inhibitor leads to regrowth of nerve cells in the injured spinal cord over long distances.
The scientists' report in Nature describes an important extension of this research. They report that in adult rats treatment with antibodies to neurite growth inhibitors can lead not only to significant regeneration of spinal cord nerve fibers but can also restore function. Following a controlled spinal cord injury, adult rats show specific deficits in locomotion that can be measured by behavioral assessment. The Nature article reports that treatment with antibodies to neurite growth inhibitors significantly improves the ability of the animals to perform certain tasks related to locomotion. These findings, write the authors, "suggest that in
the future, specific intervention strategies could improve the functional outcome of spinal cord injuries in humans by increasing anatomical plasticity and regeneration."
Ronald M. Lindsay, Ph.D., vice president, Neurobiology of Regeneron,
commented, "Regeneron has collaborated with Dr. Schwab and supported his laboratory since 1989. Schwab's report is another important step in the critically important work of understanding and, hopefully, treating brain and spinal cord injuries. We look forward to continuing our efforts in this area, which is still in the early stages of development." Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a leader in the application of molecular and cell biology to discover novel potential therapeutics for human medical conditions. The company is applying its technological expertise in protein growth factors, their receptors, and their mechanisms of action to the discovery and development of neurotrophic factors for the potential treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, peripheral neuropathies and nerve injury. More recently, Regeneron has used these technologies to attempt to identify treatments for diseases and conditions outside of the nervous system, such as cancer, muscle disease and angiogenesis (blood vessel growth).
CONTACT: Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
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