We can take comfort in that there are many paths to the conquest of HD. One path started with the discovery of the responsible gene. This was to lead to the function of the gene and the chemistry of what goes wrong. This path to the conquest of HD has been a spectacular failure. In the approaching decade since the gene discovery of the mutant HD gene, not one HD treatment is based on a molecular understanding of HD.
I am an engineer in love with the methods of science I learned at UC Berkeley. A scientist seeks to understand nature. A engineer uses his understanding of nature and available evidence to solve problems of human progress. Sometimes it it takes a lot of trial and error before a problem is solved.
The path of Cognet Neuroscience to the conquest of HD is that of an engineer. Pick a logical approach and exhaust all the possibilities. --Jerry 08Mar2001
Cogent Neuroscience, Inc. Press release 08Mar2001
| Gene Rover rapidly pinpoints these gene checkpoints using a physiological screening process that employs novel technologies to introduce human genes into living, intact brain tissue and to determine the impact these genes have on neurological disease. Because the screening process is physiological, Gene Rover is faster and more accurate than traditional experimental and computer algorithm-based search strategies—Gene Rover can find critical gene checkpoints today that otherwise would take years or decades to discover. |
DURHAM, N.C., March 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Cogent Neuroscience, Inc. announced today that it has entered into a collaborative agreement with Elan Corporation, plc [ELN] to focus on the discovery of novel therapeutic gene targets for a group of intractable brain disorders known as polyglutamine repeat diseases.
Among the most common polyglutamine repeat diseases is Huntington's disease, an incurable neurodegenerative condition that affects upwards of 35,000 people in the United States alone. Huntington's Disease is a fatal disabling genetic disorder characterized by a progressive loss of motor function over a 14-17 year period. After years of steady decline, those afflicted with the disease become incapacitated and eventually succumb to complications such as pneumonia caused by their inability to swallow correctly.
Cogent Neuroscience has developed a proprietary functional screening process that identifies gene sequences and small molecule compounds that may be potentially capable of interrupting and reversing the destructive course of diseases and disorders of the brain. This screening process is carried out in living, intact brain tissue; Cogent's gene and drug discoveries are therefore predicated on physiological validation and have superior predictive value for positive clinical results.
Because polyglutamine repeat disorders have clear cellular manifestations of clinical pathology, they readily lend themselves to a discovery collaboration based on Cogent's technology platform. Elan is a leader in the research, diagnostics, and clinical development of therapeutics for a large variety of neurological diseases. Their Athena Diagnostics subsidiary is a leading provider of diagnostic assays for polyglutamine repeat diseases. The partnership will use Cogent's technology platform to screen functionally for therapeutic genes based on their ability to inhibit and/or reverse neural degeneration in the context of Huntington's and other polyglutamine repeat disease models.
As part of the agreement, Elan has made an equity investment in Cogent Neuroscience and may negotiate commercialization rights for the partnership's products.
``We're excited about this collaboration,'' said Max Wallace, President and CEO of Cogent Neuroscience. ``And we're extremely pleased that a company of Elan's stature will be pressing forward with us in such a vital area of neurological research.''
Based in North Carolina, Cogent Neuroscience is focused on the discovery and development of new therapeutics for the treatment of stroke, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other diseases and disorders of the brain. Cogent Neuroscience is a privately held company whose investors include Intersouth Partners, Franklin Street Partners, Cordova Ventures and SR1, the venture subsidiary of GlaxoSmithKline.
More information about Cogent Neuroscience can be found on the World Wide
Web at http://www.cogentneuroscience.com .