http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/990415/ca_kosan_1.html
Company Press Release
Kosan Receives NIH Grant to Design Novel
Neuroregenerative Agents
HAYWARD, Calif.--(BW HealthWire)--April 15, 1999--KOSAN
Biosciences, Inc. announced today that it has received a Phase I Small
Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) grant from the NIH National
Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to pursue research
targeted at designing novel analogs of rapamycin and FK506 for the
purpose of nerve regeneration.
The grant will support a collaborative effort between Kosan and
Professor Thomas C. Bruice, University of California, Santa Barbara,
Calif.
Rapamycin and FK506 are natural products that belong to the class of
compounds known as polyketides. In addition to their utility as
immunosuppressive drugs, they also stimulate neurite outgrowth, and the
two activities are separable. Analogs of rapamycin and FK506 may have
the potential to become treatments for disorders of the central and
peripheral nervous systems involving nerve degeneration or damage, such
as PARKINSON'S disease, multiple sclerosis, stroke, traumatic spinal
cord and peripheral neuropathies.
In the collaboration, Kosan will use its proprietary genetic engineering
technology to create new neuroregenerative analog compounds, and Dr.
Bruice will use computer-aided searching and modeling to identify
promising analogs. New analogs will be tested for nerve regeneration and
active candidates will be considered for development. <snip>
For further information, please visit Kosan's web site at
http://www.kosan.com.
Contact:
KOSAN Biosciences, Inc., Hayward
Michael S. Ostrach, 510/732-8400 x207
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Copyright © 1999 Business Wire.
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Judith Richards, London, Ontario, Canada
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