Panacea in collaboration with WRAIR to study neurodegenerative drugs

Panacea Pharmaceuticals has entered into a collaborative r&d agreement (CRADA) with the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), Division of Neurosciences, Department of Neuropharmacology and Molecular Biology.

Under the CRADA, Panacea and WRAIR will evaluate the efficacy, toxicity, and mechanism of action of PAN-811 and its derivatives as neuroprotectants for global and focal ischemia. The scope of work includes examination of these compounds in an animal model of transient focal brain ischemia to evaluate in vivo efficacy and toxicity as a part of pre-clinical studies.

'This CRADA with WRAIR will allow us to quickly assess the efficacy and biological relevance of PAN-811 and its derivatives for conditions linked to cerebral ischemia such as stroke and head injury,' stated Dr Bijan Almassian, chief operating officer of the Company.

Panacea developed and utilised several cell-based screening assays modeling ischemic neuronal cell death to identify PAN-811, a bioavailable small molecule that displays potent neuroprotection in our assays. The exact mechanism of action of PAN-811 remains unclear and is one aspect of the proposed work. The company will draw on WRAIR's expertise and capabilities to investigate apoptotic neuronal cell death, determine genomic response to brain injury, understand post-translational mechanisms underlying response to trauma, define specific biomarkers of brain injury, and understand electrophysiological consequences of brain injury and functional recovery.

Ischemia-related diseases encompass a large group of maladies and associated syndromes resulting from neuronal cell death subsequent to ischemia. The clinical significance of cerebral ischemia is compounded by the lack of effective neuroprotective treatments that directly inhibit ischemic neuronal death. Therefore, discovery and development of neuroprotectants is a priority in the prevention and treatment of ischemic-related disease.