Drug makers are interested in an ancient Chinese
medicine after Harvard found out how it works
A company that specialises in
turning university research into marketable drugs is licensing Harvard research related to the blue evergreen
hydrangea root, a part of the plant that has been used in
traditional Chinese medicine for centuries.
Allied-Bristol Life Sciences, a
joint venture between the university commercialisation specialist Allied Minds
and the US pharmaceuticals giant Bristol-Myers Squibb, is licensing research
carried out by Professor Malcolm Whitman and Dr. Tracy Keller at Harvard from 2002
onward.
The pair found that the active
ingredient in blue evergreen hydrangea root, called halofuginone, could block a type of rogue T-cell, and they also identified
how it blocks these cells.
T-cells are the part of the immune
system that tackles viruses, but rogue T-cells attack healthy cells and can
cause inflammation and damage. This occurs in autoimmune conditions such as
multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, and lupus.
Allied-Bristol Life Sciences is
hoping to use the Harvard research, based on a synthetic form of halofuginone,
to develop drugs to treat these types of diseases.
Whitman and Keller's findings were
published in 2012 and reported on the effects of halofuginone on a mouse with a model of
multiple sclerosis. But this is the first time a company has
explicitly said it wants to make a drug based on the research.
Blue hydrangea root has been used
for at least 2,000 years in Chinese medicine, and its efficacy was first
noticed in the West in the 1940s, according to Harvard Magazine's report of Whitman and Keller's
research.
But until the Harvard pair studied
the root nobody knew exactly how it worked, meaning it was impossible to
replicate its effects in a drug.
Allied-Bristol Life Sciences CEO
Satish Jindal says: "The work done by Whitman and Keller is a terrific
example of a promising early-stage therapeutic application that has the
potential to make a significant difference to patients.
"We are pleased to support this
project through the next phase of drug discovery to identify a candidate for
clinical development. This is a great example of the type of university
research that ABLS looks for, where our expertise and experience can accelerate
bringing new therapies to patients that need them."
Whitman says: "Our research is
at the right stage for an infusion of resources and expertise to accelerate its
progression. We look forward to seeing the development of lead compounds from
our laboratories into novel therapeutics for the treatment of fibrotic disease,
and potentially other indications."
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