Leuven/Leiden, July 9th 2009
to-BBB, the Dutch brain drug delivery company, and the academic research group of Professor Bart de Strooper (VIB and K.U.Leuven) in Belgium will work together on the development of a potential treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.
The laboratory of Professor Bart de Strooper has discovered a novel therapeutic antibody directed at a key target involved in Alzheimer’s disease, a devastating neurodegenerative disorder affecting millions of people worldwide. The blood-brain barrier (BBB), however, is limiting the delivery of many complex compounds, including antibodies, to their disease target in the brain.
to-BBB has established a brain delivery platform to safely enhance uptake of different classes of drugs to the brain by formulating these drugs into proprietary glutathione coated stealth liposomes. Proof of concept for this so called G-Technology™ has been established in several disease models. The research group of professor de Strooper and to-BBB will now join forces to develop brain-targeted liposomes for antibody delivery.
Professor Bart de Strooper and his research group have been playing a prominent role in the investigations on processes that underlie Alzheimer’s disease. In their search for a potential cure for this neurodegenerative disease, the collaboration with to-BBB will provide them with a possibility to improve brain delivery of possible treatment options.
Pieter Gaillard, CSO of to-BBB, indicates the importance of this collaboration: “We are looking forward to combine to-BBB’s brain delivery technology with Bart de Strooper’s capabilities in the area of Alzheimer’s disease to be able to ultimately improve the lives of patients with this largely untreated neurodegenerative disease.”
VIB and to-BBB will share investments and rights at the early research stage and have flexibility in leadership through further clinical development. A top-10 pharma company has obtained first rights on the result of this collaboration, based on the previous research on this Alzheimer target by the group of Professor de Strooper.
About to-BBB
to-BBB is a Dutch biotechnology company in the field of drug delivery to the brain which uses its platform technologies to synergize with established and marketed drugs. to-BBB’s vision is that the treatment of currently unserved brain diseases will be best achieved by targeting to endogenous blood-to-brain uptake systems for the delivery of drugs. The company is developing treatments for devastating brain disorders by combining existing drugs with proprietary brain delivery technologies.
to-BBB is headquartered in The Netherlands at the Leiden Bio Science Park and established a fully owned subsidiary, to-BBB Taiwan Ltd., in Taipei, Taiwan.
About VIB
VIB is a non-profit research institute in the life sciences. Some 1,100 scientists and technicians conduct strategic basic research on the molecular mechanisms that control the functioning of the human body, plants, and micro-organisms. Through a close partnership with four Flemish universities - Ghent University, the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, the University of Antwerp, and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel - and a solid investment program, VIB unites the forces of 65 research groups in a single institute. Their research aims at fundamentally extending the frontiers of our knowledge. Through its technology transfer activities, VIB strives to convert the research results into products for the benefit of consumers and patients. VIB also develops and distributes a broad range of scientifically substantiated information about all aspects of biotechnology. More info at: www.vib.be.
About K.U. Leuven
The University of Leuven is Belgium’s largest university and one of the oldest universities in Europe, founded in 1425. It is a comprehensive university with 14 faculties, with a long tradition of high-quality interdisciplinary research and teaching. The University of Leuven has over 33,000 students (12 percent international) and over 17,000 staff members (8,600 in the various university departments and 8,700 at UZ Leuven, the university hospital). More info at: www.kuleuven.be.
The laboratory of Professor Bart de Strooper has discovered a novel therapeutic antibody directed at a key target involved in Alzheimer’s disease, a devastating neurodegenerative disorder affecting millions of people worldwide. The blood-brain barrier (BBB), however, is limiting the delivery of many complex compounds, including antibodies, to their disease target in the brain.
to-BBB has established a brain delivery platform to safely enhance uptake of different classes of drugs to the brain by formulating these drugs into proprietary glutathione coated stealth liposomes. Proof of concept for this so called G-Technology™ has been established in several disease models. The research group of professor de Strooper and to-BBB will now join forces to develop brain-targeted liposomes for antibody delivery.
Professor Bart de Strooper and his research group have been playing a prominent role in the investigations on processes that underlie Alzheimer’s disease. In their search for a potential cure for this neurodegenerative disease, the collaboration with to-BBB will provide them with a possibility to improve brain delivery of possible treatment options.
Pieter Gaillard, CSO of to-BBB, indicates the importance of this collaboration: “We are looking forward to combine to-BBB’s brain delivery technology with Bart de Strooper’s capabilities in the area of Alzheimer’s disease to be able to ultimately improve the lives of patients with this largely untreated neurodegenerative disease.”
VIB and to-BBB will share investments and rights at the early research stage and have flexibility in leadership through further clinical development. A top-10 pharma company has obtained first rights on the result of this collaboration, based on the previous research on this Alzheimer target by the group of Professor de Strooper.
About to-BBB
to-BBB is a Dutch biotechnology company in the field of drug delivery to the brain which uses its platform technologies to synergize with established and marketed drugs. to-BBB’s vision is that the treatment of currently unserved brain diseases will be best achieved by targeting to endogenous blood-to-brain uptake systems for the delivery of drugs. The company is developing treatments for devastating brain disorders by combining existing drugs with proprietary brain delivery technologies.
to-BBB is headquartered in The Netherlands at the Leiden Bio Science Park and established a fully owned subsidiary, to-BBB Taiwan Ltd., in Taipei, Taiwan.
About VIB
VIB is a non-profit research institute in the life sciences. Some 1,100 scientists and technicians conduct strategic basic research on the molecular mechanisms that control the functioning of the human body, plants, and micro-organisms. Through a close partnership with four Flemish universities - Ghent University, the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, the University of Antwerp, and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel - and a solid investment program, VIB unites the forces of 65 research groups in a single institute. Their research aims at fundamentally extending the frontiers of our knowledge. Through its technology transfer activities, VIB strives to convert the research results into products for the benefit of consumers and patients. VIB also develops and distributes a broad range of scientifically substantiated information about all aspects of biotechnology. More info at: www.vib.be.
About K.U. Leuven
The University of Leuven is Belgium’s largest university and one of the oldest universities in Europe, founded in 1425. It is a comprehensive university with 14 faculties, with a long tradition of high-quality interdisciplinary research and teaching. The University of Leuven has over 33,000 students (12 percent international) and over 17,000 staff members (8,600 in the various university departments and 8,700 at UZ Leuven, the university hospital). More info at: www.kuleuven.be.
