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����Ƶ and Neuro Pharmalogics Enter into Licensing Agreement

����Ƶ has entered into a licensing agreement with Neuro Pharmalogics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing innovative therapies for patients with rare neurological diseases.

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����Ƶ has entered into a licensing agreement with Neuro Pharmalogics, Inc., a private biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing innovative therapies for patients with rare (orphan) neurological diseases. The portfolio of patents focuses on the PKG (protein kinase G) pathway, which plays a pivotal role in several neurological conditions by controlling cortical spreading depolarization. Research at ����Ƶ has found that neurological diseases, including hemiplegic migraine – a severe type of migraine that can affect patients up to 15 times a month and can paralyze half the body – as well as neural trauma (traumatic brain injury and spinal shock), stroke, and epileptic conditions can be targeted through the PKG signaling pathway.

Under a prior agreement, ����Ƶ took the lead in commercializing its patent in combination with a patent from the University of Toronto. ����Ƶ licensed its faculty-related spinoff company to Neuro Pharmalogics, Inc. to commercially distribute this intellectual property for the benefit of patients globally.

“We are very excited to be licensing these patents from ����Ƶ, which is great news for Neuro Pharmalogics, but more importantly for hemiplegic migraine sufferers world-wide,” said David D. Muth, president, CEO, and founder of Neuro Pharmalogics, Inc. “We intend to diligently develop NP-101, a PP2A inhibitor, for this very debilitating and rare condition.”

Ken Dawson-Scully, Ph.D., MSc, associate professor of biological sciences in ����Ƶ’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Science and a founder and chief scientific officer of Neuro Pharmalogics, Inc., has been studying the PKG pathway to understand how animals adapt to different types of environmental stress, such as low oxygen and high temperature. His research, which is a part of the Jupiter Life Science Initiative, has provided important insight for spreading depolarization, neural anoxia, and neural thermoprotection.

Earlier this year, Neuro Pharmalogics, Inc., joined ����Ƶ’s Tech Runway^® as the Neuroscience Pillar Award Winner. Under the purview of ����Ƶ’s Division of Research, Tech Runway^® is a public-private partnership formed to foster technology start-ups and early-stage companies. Since its inception in late 2014, ����Ƶ Tech Runway^® has supported 15 companies that have produced more than $3 million in total revenue.

“This licensing agreement is a testament to Dr. Ken Dawson-Scully’s world-class research here at ����Ƶ,” said Daniel C. Flynn, Ph.D., ����Ƶ’s vice president for research. “The highly experienced leadership team at Neuro Pharmalogics will take this innovative research to the next level with the ultimate goal of developing and commercializing a treatment for hemiplegic migraine.”

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