HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA – November 17th, 2010 -- Innovascreen, Inc., a private biotechnology company focused on the development of the Fusogenix Platform for Intracellular Drug Delivery, announces today that it has entered into an Agreement with WORLDiscoveries at The University of Western Ontario (UWO), to advance novel therapeutics for the treatment of spinal cord injury. The partnership will build on the groundbreaking work done by Dr. Arthur Brown. “The Fusogenix Platform can drastically increase the intracellular concentration of therapeutics,” said Dr. John Lewis, President and CEO of Innovascreen. “This partnership allows Innovascreen to develop important proof of concept data for the delivery of biologics using the Fusogenix platform.”
“The program will be focused on the delivery of inhibitors of a master control gene that regulates the balance between the anti- and pro-regenerative genes activated after spinal cord injury,” said Dr. Arthur Brown, Principal Investigator at the Robarts Research Institute and Professor at UWO. “We hope to positively impact regeneration by increasing the intracellular concentration of these identified inhibitors, encapsulated in Fusogenically-enabled Liposomes.” “Biologics often require a delivery system to survive in the body,” added Dr. Andries Zijlstra, CSO at Innovascreen. “Successful demonstration of efficient intracellular delivery of biologics will be an important milestone for the Fusogenix Platform.”
About The Fusogenix Platform
Fusogenix is a liposomal drug delivery platform that allows access to the 1000’s of intracellular drug targets by inducing fusing with the plasma membrane. Effectively bypassing the endocytic pathway, therapeutics are delivered, intact and unmodified, directly into the cytoplasm where they can generate an optimal effect. The technology is easily incorporated into optimized liposomal formulations and has been shown to drastically increase intracellular concentrations of a wide range of therapeutic types including: small molecules, biologics and siRNA
About Innovascreen With two platform technologies under management, Innovascreen is an ideal partner for an organization involved in early stage preclinical development of therapeutic candidates. The Avian System for Evaluating Therapeutics (ASET) Platform allows our clients and partners to screen compound libraries and validates lead candidates for further investment, faster, better and cheaper than other available options. Fusogenix is an advanced intracellular drug delivery platform with a unique mechanism of action that drastically increases the intracellular delivery of therapeutic cargos. Innovascreen is a privately held company, headquartered in Nova Scotia, Canada. For more information, please visit www.innovascreen.com
About WORLDiscoveries WORLDiscoveries is the Business Development arm of London’s extensive research network and the bridge between local invention and global industry. Born out of a partnership between The University of Western Ontario, Robarts Research Institute and Lawson Health Research Institute (collectively known as the ‘Partners’), WORLDiscoveries draws upon a mix of industry connections, sector-specific market knowledge and business development expertise, to help Researchers and local inventors commercialize their discoveries through licensing and new company spin-offs.
Contact:
Jeff Skinner, Director, Business Development, Innovascreen, Inc (902) 482-3832 x 7, jeff.skinner@innovascreen.com
