Lexicon Genetics Awarded Additional Grant for Study of Spinal Muscular Atrophy
Wednesday October 11, 7:30 am ET
THE WOODLANDS, Texas, Oct. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Lexicon Genetics Incorporated (Nasdaq: LEXG - News) announced today that its research program to identify targets that may be important in the development of drugs to prevent or treat spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) has been extended for an additional year by the United States Army Medical Research & Materiel Command (USAMRMC). SMA is a neurodegenerative disorder and the leading genetic cause of death in early childhood.
Lexicon will receive $2.5 million in funding for the one-year extended term of the grant. The research program was initiated under a $2.0 million award to Lexicon. Lexicon has an agreement with the SMA Foundation for the potential development of drugs based on discoveries resulting from this program.
"We believe our target discovery system uniquely positions us to find genes that may be relevant to the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy and other neurodegenerative diseases," said Brian P. Zambrowicz, Ph.D., executive vice president of research at Lexicon. "The continued support of the Army is critical to success in this important area of drug discovery research."
Spinal muscular atrophy is a genetic, motor-neuron disease characterized by the wasting of skeletal muscles. Caused by progressive degeneration of nerve cells in the spinal cord, the disease leads to increasing muscular weakness and atrophy and premature death due to respiratory problems. The SMA Foundation estimates that there are currently over 50,000 people suffering from SMA in the United States, Europe and Japan.
SMA research and therapeutics development may be applicable to other neurodegenerative diseases, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also known as Lou Gehrig's disease) and Alzheimer's disease, and may have other military relevance. Treatments that protect and maintain neurons or encourage nerve recovery may be important in spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury. |
