BTG Launches New Venture to Develop Breakthrough Technology to Treat Broad Array of Neurological Conditions
Ketone Body Approach Targets Major Disease Areas Including Stroke, Head Injury, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Diseases
WEST CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa., Nov. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- BTG (LSE: BGC), the global technology commercialization company, today launched KetoCytonyx, Inc., a company created to develop BTG's ketone body technology.
KetoCytonyx Inc. will develop new treatments for acute brain injury such as stroke and head trauma and for chronic neurodegenerative conditions including Alzheimer's Disease and Parkinson's Disease. BTG will license the core intellectual property to KetoCytonyx Inc. and will provide intellectual property management, development planning, as well as general management and commercial strategy advice in exchange for a majority equity stake.
Ketone bodies (primarily D-(beta)-hydroxybutyric acid (D(beta)HB) and acetoacetetate) are a physiologically normal metabolite which is the only alternative to glucose as an energy source in the brain. Acute brain injury such as stroke interrupts oxygen supply to cells and glucose can no longer be used as an energy source. Rather, when oxygen levels are low, glucose is converted to toxic lactate that can further damage the cell.
Ketone bodies, by contrast, can be converted to usable energy in a low oxygen environment. Interestingly, ketone bodies can also reverse the edema associated with brain injuries. This has multiple benefits including decreased intra-cranial pressure and improved oxygenation of brain cells. The initial focus for KetoCytonyx Inc. will be the development of treatments to protect the brain from the damage caused by cerebral ischemia and edema associated with head injury and stroke.
Stroke accounts for more than 50% of acute neurological hospitalizations in the US and costs more than $40 billion to treat. Head injury is the fourth leading cause of death in developed countries, with annual direct treatment costs of more than $48 billion for the US market alone.
BTG's Director of Health, Medical and BioTechnologies, Dr. Geoffrey Porges said: ``The ketone body technology is an opportunity for BTG to develop a unique technical breakthrough in very important medical indications. We believe this technology could revolutionize treatment for sufferers of stroke, head trauma and neurodegenerative diseases around the world. The envisioned products from this new technology may reduce the overall treatment costs significantly and, more importantly, improve the quality of life for people affected by these devastating diseases.''
This new technology has been developed from IPR obtained by BTG from Dr. Richard Veech in the US and Shimizu Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. in Japan. These portfolios complement each other and BTG has a patent position that is secure for at least the next 15 years.
Commenting on the announcement, Dr. Veech said: ``The creation of KetoCytonyx is a critical step in the development of this technology. Research has shown that ketone bodies have shown the potential to alter the defects in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Diseases and stroke, and proved to be of potential benefit in a diverse group of other neurodegenerative and genetic disorders. I am delighted that BTG has committed its skills and resources to the development of therapeutic ketone bodies.''
Prof. George Cahill, Emeritus Professor, Harvard University Medical School and distinguished researcher in this area for more than 30 years, will chair the Scientific Advisory Board. This board will advise KetoCytonyx Inc. on the development of the ketone body technologies.
``Society has an aging population, and the importance of developing effective treatments for the conditions that will affect increasing numbers of people cannot be over-emphasized. There are already 35 million Americans over the age of 65 and that number will be almost double by 2025. Without further research and development of technologies like ketone bodies, medical resources will be unable to cope with the increased demand,'' Prof. Cahill said.
The ketone body technology has secondary applications in the treatment of chronic neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's Disease and Parkinson's Disease. These serious chronic disorders affect more than five million patients in the US alone. KetoCytonyx Inc. will also develop ketone body-based products to treat these conditions.
In addition, recent research has demonstrated the potential benefits of the KetoCytonyx approaches in treating intractable childhood epilepsy. KetoCytonyx Inc. will build on this research, to develop proprietary formulations of ketone body products for acute and chronic therapy.
KetoCytonyx Inc. will be based at BTG's office in West Conshohocken, PA. Ketone bodies, primarily acetoacetetate and D-beta-hydroxybutyric acid (D(beta)HB), play a very significant role in human metabolism independent of being key intermediates in fat synthesis and breakdown. Most important, particularly from an evolutionary point of view, is their ability to serve as a source of energy in the absence of glucose. This property is the basis of their therapeutic potential whereby D(beta)HB is taken up by compromised cells and converted in the mitochondria to acetoactetate with accompanying production of usable energy. Other known roles include presence in a polymer of D(beta)HB found in cell membranes as part of a transport channel across the cell wall and as key metabolites of important bacterial pathogens.
The beneficial effects of D(beta)HB include increased cell oxygen efficiency (recently reviewed by Dr. Veech et al. in Life 51:241-247, 2001). Furthermore, in tissue culture of nerve cells, the toxic effects of amyloid(beta) 1-42 (an Alzheimer's disease model) are decreased and, likewise, the toxic effects of MPP+ (a Parkinson's disease model) are diminished or countered completely. There is also substantial evidence for a potential role of D(beta)HB in diminishing free radical damage. While Dr. Veech in the US and co-workers in the UK and Japan were demonstrating effects in heart and nerve cells, research carried out at Shimizu Pharmaceutical Co. in Japan has demonstrated that D(beta)HB is able to decrease the edema associated with stroke and other cerebral events thereby improving post-infarct outcomes.
BTG's business is finding, developing and commercializing technologies that will shape the markets of tomorrow. Our technologies begin with innovation in a particular scientific or technical discipline. Those technologies will be protected by a strong portfolio of intellectual property. BTG creates value by investing in further technical development and enhancing the scope of the intellectual property. Finally, BTG captures value by either licensing the rights to the technology or by developing new business ventures. We return significant value to our sources of technology, our business partners and our shareholders.
With headquarters in London and offices in Philadelphia and Tokyo, BTG capitalizes on a global network of contacts in companies, universities and research institutions to identify and commercialize the most promising technologies. Since being founded in 1949, BTG has commercialized such major innovations as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), Interferon and wide-spectrum cephalosporin antibiotics.
BTG is quoted on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol ``BGC''. BTG's website www.btgplc.com includes information about our business and recent press releases. In the US and UK, BTG operates through wholly owned subsidiaries, BTG International Inc. and BTG International Ltd., respectively. |
