The owner of the proposed technology is a Research and Educational Institution, in the areas of Neurology, Genetics
and Biomedical and Medical Sciences, located in Cyprus, which develops and provides high level clinical and laboratory services, develops and pursues advanced innovative research and provides postgraduate education in the aforementioned areas.
Currently there’s no cure or effective therapy for AD and once an individual begins displaying symptoms such as memory loss there is inevitable deterioration leading to death. Hence the impact on the quality of life of both the patients and their families/carers is indeed immense. Amyloid deposition starts up to twenty years prior to symptoms can be diagnosed relatively early in vivo by PET scanning. Certain types of medications (cholinesterase inhibitors) may ease the symptoms in some patients as a symptomatic approach, however there’s no effective treatment which could remove cerebral amyloidosis.
Despite the negative association between inflammation and amyloid disease status, it has been found that activation of the C5a receptor has significant beneficial effects, including a reduction in the amount of amyloid deposits in established models of both the neurodegenerative AD and systemic ATTR amyloidosis, a form of systemic amyloidosis caused by amyloid deposits made up of a protein called transthyretin (TTR). It is considered therefore that treatment with C5a receptor activators, or agonists, will be widely beneficial to the treatment and/or prevention of all amyloid diseases.
The Institution has found that oral administration of a C5a receptor activator ameliorated amyloid aggregates in the stomachs of mice with ATTR amyloidosis. The effect is not restricted to ATTR since an oral dose of the activator also results in a significant decrease in the amyloid plaques associated with AD in brain tissue (and concomitant improvement in behaviour), indicating that not only is the effect of the activator not restricted to stomach tissue since it also works in the very different brain tissue, but also that the effects of an oral dose of the activator are not restricted to the stomach or gastro-intestinal tract, but are effective at distal sites also.
Based on research data it is believed that the activator will be effective against any protein aggregate, for example any amyloid or protein aggregate since both the ATTR aggregates and the Alzheimer’s aggregates are from different initial pre-cursor proteins. It is also considered that the activator will work on any amyloid in any tissue, whatever the route of administration.
The Institution seeks global partners from the pharmaceutical industry that would be interested in a licencing or purchase agreement. This kind of agreements are the common practise of the organisation for the exploitation of their research results.
