G2 and Novo Nordisk: to commercialize new antibody for inflammatory diseases

Filed in archive News , Studies , Treatment on February 10, 2006

Scientists from Sydney's Garvan Institute of Medical Research have developed a potential blockbuster treatment for inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and asthma.

The discovered antibody is being commercialised by G2 Therapies Ltd (a biotechnology company founded by Garvan) which announced the signing of an AU$135 million research, development and licensing agreement with Danish healthcare company, Novo Nordisk.

The said partnership will allow the new therapy to be taken through to human clinical trials.

The body needs a certain amount of inflammation to protect itself against disease. The hallmarks of inflammation reflect the major events: swelling of localised blood capillaries, and the movement of fluid and immune cells into damaged tissue in an effort to contain infection.

When immune cells become overactive, as is the case with rheumatoid arthritis, too many of them move into damaged tissue and exacerbate the condition. The new antibody blocks the action of one of the most important molecules for guiding inflammatory cells into tissue.

The Garvan Scientists anticipate that their discovered antibody will be a significant improvement over current therapies because it acts at a different and earlier point in the inflammatory process compared with current anti-inflammatory therapies.