CURIS' BMP-7 Protein Drug Candidate Reported to Enhance Stroke Recovery
Tuesday February 11, 8:07 am ET
New Finding Cited in American Heart Association Publication
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 11, 2003--CURIS, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRIS - News), the therapeutic drug development company, today announced the release of favorable findings surrounding CURIS' BMP-7 protein drug candidate.
In the current edition of Stroke, an American Heart Association publication, it is reported that BMP-7 can improve motor function after a stroke even when the compound is delivered intravenously into the blood stream twenty-four hours after the injury. Other previously published studies have shown that BMP-7 can promote functional recovery when administered up to three days after a stroke, but in those studies BMP-7 was injected directly into the brain (cerebrospinal) fluid.
The finding is further evidence of progress in CURIS' BMP-7 commercialization efforts. In November of 2002, CURIS licensed to Ortho Biotech (a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson) the rights to its BMP portfolio for neurological, renal, and other therapeutic indications. Under the agreement, Ortho Biotech is responsible for all decisions regarding the development of products from CURIS' BMP portfolio.
"The attraction of BMP-7 as a stroke drug candidate has been its ability to enhance the recovery of motor skills even when administered relatively late, one to three days after the stroke" said Daniel Passeri, CURIS' President and Chief Executive Officer. "The prospect that BMP-7's stroke recovery effects may be obtained by intravenous delivery instead of direct injection into the brain represents a significant step forward in the development of this promising drug candidate."
Comments: Strangely enough they don't want to tell us how they have arrived at these conclusions. Is this knowledge gained from pre-clinical experiments on mice or something they have tried out in real life? |
