AMT in license agreement with Schering-Plough
Amsterdam Molecular Therapeutics (AMT) has signed a license agreement with Schering-Plough Corporation, of Kenilworth in the US, for use of interleukin-10 (IL-10) for ex vivo gene therapy in inflammatory diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. The agreement allows AMT to further develop its IL-10 ex vivo gene therapy for the maintenance of remission in Crohn's disease in collaboration with the Academic Medical Center (AMC) in Amsterdam.
'Recently, proof of principle in a colitis mouse model has been achieved, where transduced T-lymphocytes, expressing IL-10, target the gut and reduce inflammation. Treated animals showed significant weight gain and survival,' says Dr Sander van Deventer, Professor of Gastroenterology at the AMC and originator of the research programme. Currently, more than 100,000 patients in the western world suffer from Crohn's disease.