CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, PhiloGene will debut its revolutionary advances in understanding the biology and the treatment of cancer and macular degeneration to a group of eminent venture capitalists and executives from pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. PhiloGene, through collaboration with Professor David Bates and Dr. Steve Harper at Bristol University in the UK, have found that a novel form of the cytokine VEGF, VEGFb™, is an extremely potent anti-angiogenic drug. VEGFb is endogenously expressed and predominates in most normal tissues. Unlike the conventional form of VEGF (VEGF), VEGFb does not promote angiogenesis. Furthermore, VEGFb is anti-angiogenic in the context of pathological neo-angiogenesis, but is essential to maintain the physiological balance that permits re-vascularisation of ischemic tissue by physiological angiogenesis. Hence, Professor Bates and Dr. Harper have discovered that the body creates and maintains the health and function of its vascular system, as well as the organ systems perfused by this vascular system, by modulating the ratio of VEGF to VEGFb.
