UST Inc. Licenses Potential Spinal Injury Drug Treatment
Posted April 10, 2003
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - April 10, 2003 2003-04-02- OTHER
UST Inc. Licenses Potential Spinal Injury Drug Treatment
A new drug treatment with potential to reduce the devastating effects of
spinal cord and brain injury has been licensed by the University of
Saskatchewan's technology transfer company to a new start-up firm at
Innovation Place on campus.
University of Saskatchewan Technologies (UST) Inc. has recently licensed the
pharmaceutical technology, developed in a U of S College of Medicine lab, to
Triage Therapeutics Inc.
Triage, managed by Winnipeg-based Lombard Life Sciences, will arrange for
further experimentation including possible human testing, with a view to
commercializing the technology. Lombard manages the $90-M Western Life
Sciences Venture Fund LP, which creates, acquires and develops emerging life
sciences companies. The Crown Investment Corporation (CIC) of Saskatchewan
is an investor.
"This is an example of how outstanding, curiosity-driven lab research
translates into new technology that can potentially benefit both human
health and the economy," said Bryan Harvey, UST Inc. board chair and Acting
Vice-President of Research. "UST and the University are committed to
ensuring that exciting discoveries by our researchers are translated into
commercial opportunities that will benefit society, the researchers, and the
University."
Harvey made the announcement today at the Saskatchewan Investment Futures
Forum hosted by CIC and Saskatchewan Industry and Resources.
"There is enormous energy and creativity in the research community in
Saskatchewan," said Lombard CEO and Triage President Kevin McGarry. "This
licensing agreement is a model of how the researchers, business and the
government sector can work together to bring truly beneficial products to
market."
In a published, peer-reviewed study, a U of S research team has shown that
the new drug treatment can prevent paraplegia and associated long-term
damage in rats with spinal cord injuries by limiting the secondary damage
from inflammation that follows such injuries. A U.S. patent was obtained
last July for the technology.
"If this treatment has the same impact on humans as we've shown that it has
on laboratory animals, then it could have a major impact in treating both
spinal cord injury and brain injury," said Bernhard Juurlink, lead
investigator and head of the U of S department of anatomy and cell biology.
He notes that more than 1,000 Canadians sustain spinal cord injuries per
year. It's estimated that 55,000 Canadians incur a traumatic brain injury,
mainly from vehicle crashes, firearm use, and falls, each year.
The treatment involves administering a compound known as
L-2-oxothiazolidine-4-carboxylate or OTC soon after injury. With early OTC
treatment, animals with injuries that would normally cause paralysis can
walk, but the treatment has not yet been tested on humans.
"Preventing spinal cord damage from inflammation caused by oxidative stress
is more effective than trying to repair the damage after it has been done,"
Juurlink says.
Triage will now undertake further research to determine the appropriate
dosage of OTC and how soon after injury the drug needs to be given in order
to be effective. Clinical trials could begin within two years. Initial-stage
human testing has already been done elsewhere on OTC in relation to other
conditions such as ALS.
Juurlink's team includes neurosurgeon Robert Griebel, nutrition professor
Phyllis Paterson, post-doctoral fellow Huse Kamencic and clinical research
fellow Elisabeth Schultke. The lab is one of the few in Canada working on
prevention of secondary damage in the wake of neck or brain injury.
If further testing proves successful, regulatory approval is granted, and
Triage takes the drug treatment to market, royalties will be paid to UST and
shared with SGI as a result of its funding of this important research.
Juurlink notes that the new drug treatment is the result of a decade of
basic research supported by federal and provincial partners, Saskatchewan
Government Insurance, the Christopher Reeve Foundation, and the Heart and
Stroke Foundation of Saskatchewan.
Over the past five years, UST has helped to set up seven new companies in
Saskatoon, ranging from small consulting companies to high-tech
nanotechnology and bio-pharmaceutical firms.
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For more information, contact:
Kathryn Warden
U of S Research Communications
(306) 966-2506
kathryn.warden@usask.ca
www.usask.ca/research
Bernhard Juurlink
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-4083
Kevin McGarry
President and CEO
Lombard Life Sciences
(204) 943-0066
