KalGene gears up to manufacture and test promising Alzheimer's treatment with NRC, McGill and CIMTEC

Canadian patients will be enrolled in clinical trials
led by McGill and funded by the Weston Brain Institute

MONTREAL, TORONTO and OTTAWA, Oct. 3, 2016 /CNW/ - KalGene Pharmaceuticals and the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) are proud to announce the signature of an agreement worth over $1M to develop, scale up, and transfer the technology needed to manufacture a promising novel Alzheimer's treatment in Canada that the parties have been co-developing since 2015.

The treatment, a biologic molecule made up of a peptide that fights Alzheimer's and an antibody-based carrier molecule designed to shuttle the peptide into the brain, is a custom-engineered therapeutic developed at NRC.

The team received a $1.5M grant from the Weston Brain Institute to enable trials of the treatment in humans, which will be led by the Douglas Research Institute Centre, affiliated with McGill University. The first patients, who are Canadians with Alzheimer's disease, are expected to be recruited in 2017. The clinical trial will be conducted at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital (McGill University). The Centre for Imaging Technology Commercialization (CIMTEC) will provide brain imaging services.

Quotes

"NRC is proud to deploy its expertise in therapeutic protein design and biomanufacturing to this project, which leverages the strengths of innovation leaders in Canada's life sciences ecosystem. Together, we aim to develop, produce and test a disease-altering Alzheimer's treatment to provide relief to patients and their families."

Roman Szumski, Vice-president of Life Sciences, National Research Council of Canada

"We are very grateful to the Weston Brain Institute for supporting this multi-disciplinary team to conduct the Alzheimer's clinical studies. We are committed to working with remarkable Canadian clinicians and scientists at NRC and McGill to bring this innovative disease-modifying molecule to not only Canadians, but also to global Alzheimer's patients in the very near future.

Nathan Yoganathan, President and CEO, KalGene Pharmaceuticals

"This is great news for the future of Alzheimer's treatment. As the Director of the Translational Neuroimaging Laboratory, Dr. Rosa-Neto has exemplified the collaborative and innovative practice of neuroscience for which McGill University is known. We are grateful to the Weston Brain Institute for their support of these promising and important clinical trials."

Dr. Rosie Goldstein, Vice-Principal (Research and Innovation), McGill University

"Thanks to the support of the Weston Brain Institute, we are able to bridge neurosciences and clinical care."

Dr. Pedro Rosa-Neto, Director of the Translational Neuroimaging Laboratory, McGill University

"The Weston Brain Institute focuses funding and attention on projects like Dr. Rosa-Neto's, with the potential to make the most impact on the millions living with and affected by neurodegenerative diseases. If this trial is successful it will be a significant step forward in the development of effective therapies for Alzheimer's disease."

Alexandra Stewart, Executive Director, Weston Brain Institute

"CIMTEC is honoured to be able to contribute our expertise to this unique project. Our preclinical analysis is providing quantitative evidence of the remarkable effectiveness of KalGene's therapy."

Michael Waterston, Director of Business Development, CIMTEC

Additional Links

• NRC's Therapeutics Beyond Brain Barriers program
• NRC and KalGene develop new Alzheimer's treatment
• Weston Brain Institute receives another $50M for research funding

SOURCE National Research Council Canada

Media Relations Team, National Research Council of Canada, 613-991-1431, 1-855-282-1637 (24/7), [email protected], Twitter: @nrc_cnrc; Nathan Yoganathan, President and CEO, KalGene Pharmaceuticals, 613-770-2638, [email protected]; Chris Chipello, McGill University / Université McGill, Media Relations Office/ Relations avec les médias, 514-398-4201, [email protected]; Catherine Thomas, Weston Brain Institute, 416-844-2507, [email protected], Twitter: @westonbrain; Michael Waterston, Director of Business Development, 416-802-5254, [email protected], Twitter: @CIMTECimaging