Alzheimer's Club

Recipients to Focus on New Technologies That Cross the Blood-Brain Barrier and Target Specific Regions in the Brain

BURLINGAME, Calif. (7 Sept. 2005) - Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure (ABC2), the Alzheimer's Association®, The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, and The Robert Packard Center for ALS Research at Johns Hopkins today announced the selection of recipients of an awards program initiated this year by The Brain Trust, a pioneering collaboration that seeks development of new approaches to advance brain disease cures. The Brain Trust's program reviewed applications focused on technologies that can achieve selective targeting and/or delivery of therapeutic agents to specific regions or cells in the brain, including overcoming the limitations imposed by the blood-brain barrier.

Recipients of the 2005 Brain Trust awards are:

Scott Banta, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering, and Barclay Morrison III, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering, both in the School of Engineering and Applied Science at Columbia University. Dr. Banta and Dr. Morrison's project -- "Directed evolution of cell penetrating peptides for therapeutic delivery across the blood-brain barrier to specific cellular targets" -- was selected by the awards committee because of its potential to enable delivery of therapies for a broad range of neuro-degenerative diseases

Ruben Boado, Ph.D., Vice President, Molecular Biology, of ArmaGen Technologies, Inc., for his project entitled -- "Genetic Engineering of a Recombinant Neuroprotective Neurotrophin that crosses the Blood-Brain Barrier." ArmaGen was founded by William Pardridge, M.D., to develop platform technology solutions for crossing the blood-brain barrier. These technologies have been shown to deliver small molecules, recombinant proteins and non-viral gene therapies to the brain. Dr. Pardridge is Professor of Medicine at UCLA and has a distinguished career in the blood-brain barrier area.

"We are pleased with the high quality of candidates for the 2005 Brain Trust awards and are excited to announce award recipients who we believe are pursuing unique programs with a broad range of applications and near-term potential," stated John Reher, ABC2 Executive Director. "The project at Columbia will certainly benefit from the university's leading position as a source of innovation in the neurosciences. Further, we think it is a distinct advantage that the ArmaGen team is solely focused on blood-brain barrier technologies because these are a key priority for research into new therapies for diseases of the brain."

In October 2004, ABC2 convened a meeting of the Alzheimer's Association, The Michael J. Fox Foundation, the Packard Center and others to identify common problems in the development of therapies for neuro-degenerative brain diseases. The group, named the Brain Trust, hopes to expand to include many other brain organizations, companies, and universities in funding other collaborative efforts.

About Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure

Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure (ABC2) was founded in May 2001 by Dan and Steve Case and their families, along with leading scientists and entrepreneurs. ABC2 aims to raise awareness about brain cancer and help mobilize critical scientific research through research grants and partnerships. ABC2 funds outstanding and novel translational science that is aimed at the discovery of a cure for brain cancer.

Each year more than 17,000 people in the United States find out that they have a malignant primary brain tumor. An additional 100,000 patients are diagnosed with a brain tumor that has metastasized from another part of the body. The mission of ABC2 is to accelerate a cure for brain cancer by increasing the number of potential therapies discovered and then rapidly moving them into the clinic to help patients. In order to accelerate progress in what has been an under-served field of research, ABC2 provides researchers from all backgrounds with the support they need to make critical breakthroughs in brain cancer research.

For more information, visit http://www.abc2.org/ or contact John Reher at 650/685-2200.

About Alzheimer's Association

Incorporated on April 10, 1980, the Alzheimer's Association® is the world leader in Alzheimer's research and support, and is the first and largest voluntary health organization dedicated to finding prevention methods, treatments and an eventual cure for Alzheimer's.

For 25 years, the donor-supported, not-for-profit Alzheimer's Association has provided reliable information and care consultation; created supportive services for families; increased funding for dementia research; and influenced public policy changes.

Their mission is to eliminate Alzheimer's disease through the advancement of research and to enhance care and support for individuals, their families and caregivers.

Their vision is a world without Alzheimer's disease.

For further information, visit http://www.alz.org/

About The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research

The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research is dedicated to ensuring the development of a cure for Parkinson's disease within this decade through an aggressively funded research agenda.

Enormous progress toward finding a cure has been made on many neurological fronts, and scientists' understanding of the brain and how disease affects it has increased dramatically. The Foundation seeks to hasten progress further by awarding grants that help guarantee that new and innovative research avenues are thoroughly funded and explored.

In 1998, actor Michael J. Fox publicly disclosed that seven years earlier, he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, which affects approximately six million people worldwide. Two years later, he founded The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, dedicated to ensuring the development of a cure for Parkinson's disease within this decade through an aggressively funded research agenda. To date, The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research has funded more than $50 million in research, either directly or through partnerships with the Parkinson's community and other public and private funders.

For more information on The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, visit http://www.michaeljfox.org/ or call Joyce Oberdorf at 212/509-1650.

About The Robert Packard Center for ALS Research at Johns Hopkins

The Robert Packard Center for ALS Research at Johns Hopkins is the only research center of its kind dedicated solely to finding a cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

The Packard Center is the only grant-giving ALS research center that requires investigators to work together, a powerful and innovative arrangement. Fueled by this spirit of collaboration, more than 45 of the world's leading scientists from Hopkins, other universities, and biotech companies aggressively pursue effective treatments and ultimately a cure for ALS. Currently, more than 50% of their funded investigators are outside Johns Hopkins. This "virtual laboratory" ensures that the brightest scientific minds across the world receive funding, regardless of their locations.

Every month, these funded scientists hold brainstorming sessions to identify promising research approaches and to evaluate each other's progress. The Scientific Advisory Board evaluates investigators' work annually, to make sure they are on track.

The core of the model, and of the Center's mission, is to connect the best researchers and clinicians to collaboratively discover the cause of ALS and to rapidly translate that information into real therapeutics. They strongly believe that this new research model holds enormous promise in their efforts to find treatments and, eventually, a cure for ALS.

For further information visit http://www.alscenter.org/ or contact Rebecca Berger at 410/502-7677.

Source: Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure Press Release at PRNewswire. Yahoo! News (7 September 2005) [FullText]