mrc

Landmark research by a Medical Research Council scientist who has discovered an intracellular immune system whereby antibodies can fight viruses from within infected cells. These findings represent an entirely new system of broad-spectrum immunity which may be exploited for the development of new anti-virals. Opportunity 375

rSP-D is a novel biological entity with enormous potential as a therapeutic for inflammatory respiratory diseases. It is a recombinant fragment of human surfactant protein D (SP-D) that is readily produced using E. coli. Opportunity 240

Organ fibrosis is a multi-billion dollar market of growing interest for the pharmaceutical industry. Transglutaminase 2 (TG2) is implicated in fibrosis of the heart, lung, liver and kidney, but traditional inhibitors act across the entire transglutaminase family with undesirable side effects. No subtype-specific inhibitor has been developed. We have a potential first-in-class humanized antibody that specifically inhibits the activity of TG2 in vitro and in cellular assays, and will be taking into animal models of kidney and lung fibrosis in the coming months. Opportunity 472

Wound healing is a complex and dynamic process and there is an increasing requirement for medicaments that promote wound healing particularly in chronic wounds. The proposed therapeutic would have applications in both chronic wounds and in healing serious acute wounds such as post-operative healing and burns. The intervention and medicament is defined based on the combination of GMCSF (such as Sargramostim) and PGE, or an agonist thereof (such as dinoprostone), which has not been previously suggested as a therapy. The inventor has demonstrated that this combination has a synergistic effect and results in quicker wound healing. The proposed therapy has particular effect in early stages of wound healing. An in vivo model demonstrated a significant difference in wound healing which was improved by day three compared to either compound alone or no treatment. This has been shown to result from the increased expression of chemokines, induced by the combination therapy, that are known to be involved in later stages of wound healing. This combination therapy would be amenable to application both in topical formulations and incorporation into dressing, bandaging and sealants. Opportunity 331

Rodent antibodies against CCR2 that markedly improved established disease in multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis animal models have been raised, and are now being humanised by MRC Technology. This novel approach to a well-characterised target uses IgG1 antibodies to CCR2 to deplete inflammatory monocytes without blocking CCR2 signalling, thus avoiding potential pro-inflammatory effects. Opportunity 333

There is a major need for spinal injury therapeutics, as adult nervous tissue regenerates only poorly or not at all following injury or disease. This invention provides a peptide therapeutic approach for the treatment of spinal cord injury by inhibiting Nogo signalling to promote neurite outgrowth and regeneration of the CNS by extracellular phosphorylation of the Nogo receptor. Opportunity 270