Regensburg Project selected in GO-Bio Competition
Since 2005 the Ministry for Education and Research has maintained (BMBF) the promotional program Foundation Program Biotechnology abbreviated as GO-Bio. In doing so the BMBF specifically supports highly promising start-up teams which for the most part is a protracted and costly development process in biotechnology. At the German Biotechnology Days 2014 in Hamburg the prize winners of six selection phases at GO-Bio were chosen. In total seven teams were able to be very pleased with around over 20 million Euro start- up funding, one of which comes from Regensburg.
Prof. Ulrich Bogdahn’s team at the Medical Center of the University of Regensburg has been working for some time on the development of novel treatment methods for neurodegenerative diseases. Included is so-called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), one of the worst diseases where in particular the motor components of the nervous system are affected and leads to these patients unstoppably experiencing paralysis of the body musculature. An effective causal treatment has unfortunately not been found to date.
Ulrich Bogdahn’s team wants to change this. In the framework of the GO-Bio-Project they are striving to found the company by the name of “CampoNeuro Pharma”. The basic approach of the Regensburg biomedical physicians: with an innovative substance the new formation of nerve cells is specifically reactivated. The key to this is an Antisense active substance, which with high precision will interrupt the so-called TGFß signal pathway in the brain.
The concentration of the TGFß molecule is elevated in people with neurodegenerative diseases. An excess of TGFß in fact inhibits the capacity of the central nervous system to regenerate itself and make new nerve cells. The working group wants to reactivate this natural compensation mechanism and thereby make as normal life as possible for the patients. Via targeted administration of the Antisense active substance to the cerebral ventricles, neurogenesis in the CNS is effectively increased and thereby counteracts the loss of nerve cells.
In the first phase of GO-Bio Ulrich Bogdahn’s team plans to preclinically develop possible active substances for the commencement of clinical studies. For this biomarkers are being developed, which will later serve patient safety and also determine conclusions on efficacy of the preparation. Furthermore it is expected to facilitate comprehensive knowledge about this disease itself and its molecular, cellular and functional mechanisms. In the second phase of GO-Bio clinical development is planned – such as the start-up of “CampoNeuro Pharma” as a biotechnology company.