This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Knowledge & Support Community

Not really an FDA approved (yet), but looks promising... Worth watching, at least was for me... Any comments?



Regards from Slovenia, Europe.

Good find, this is the research group that I was talking about here:

http://www.thisisms.com/ftopict-1441.html

It sounds like they don't have the money to do a trial, but if they can find a pharma company partner, they could be ready to start human trials in a year.

Fascinating presentation! This is the best discussion as to what is going on with us that I have seen.

gwa

Looks like Dr. Chandy and his team have found a drug development deal with Airmid, but they still need big pharma partnership money...

I'm surprised big pharma isn't all over this, since it can be used in all auto-immune situations. I'd invest

http://www.airmid.com/shk.html#

AC

I passed this on to the fast forward group and they say they've been in contact with Dr. Chandy. Hopefully, they hook him up with some $$$.

I have some questions about this movie, maybe worth of discussion:

Are all the cells that use the "red" potassium channel bad? It seemed to me that those are the cells that sustain our life-time immunity (some of them attacking our own body chronically)... Wouldn't blocking those cells (and leaving us with only those ad-hoc T-cells) make us vulnerable to other diseases? It was said that 95% of the cells in lesions are using this potassium channel, but once again - are those all of them? Why did the nature (evolution) "invent" the "red" potassium channel then? Any opinions?

I agree that the presentation is great.

Best regards.

Hi Damjan-
From what I understood, this is a very selective potassium channel blocker. Dr. Chandy was speaking in general terms so that we lay folk could grasp how the process works. Not all "red channels" will be affected. Just the "professional T cells."

Here are the specifics-

The structurally defined sea anemone peptide toxins ShK and BgK potently block the intermediate conductance, Ca2+-activated potassium channel IKCa1, a well recognized therapeutic target present in erythrocytes, human T-lymphocytes, and the colon. The well characterized voltage-gated Kv1.3 channel in human T-lymphocytes is also blocked by both peptides, although ShK has a ~1,000-fold greater affinity for Kv1.3 than IKCa1.

http://www.jbc.org/cgi/content/abstract/274/31/21885

Much easier to understand Dr. Chandy's red and blue pictures
AC

It seemed strange to me that Pfizer and AstraZeneca, who Dr. Chandry spent years with going over their compounds, did not step up to become his venture capital partners.

Is it possible that he and his colleagues don't want to turn the research over to a pharma company because they lose control of the project?

Beats me why he would have trouble getting money because this looks like it could be the real deal for curing autoimmune diseases.


gwa

Anyone know if what he refers to as Professional T-Cells is what we often hear as Killer T-Cells?

GWA, I think your suggestion about control makes sense. I saw something on the Bionomics website (company coming out with their own kv1.3 inhibitor, so take this with a grain or two of salt) that could possibly make some big pharma less interested:

ShK-L5 advantages: High Selectivity to KV1.3
ShK-L5 disadvantages: Polypeptide (Large Molecule), Not orally available, Expensive

Also, this report does make for an interesting read if you want to know where things stood with Kv1.3 research 2 years ago (and who doesn't?!)...
http://www.bionomics.com.au/siteFiles/f ... Report.pdf

Dr. Chandy has founded his own company- Airmid. He is founder, director, and on the "drug development committee." I'm sure there are control issues and proprietary ones, as well. My uncle was a developer for a large international chemical corporation, and had to sign over all of his research and patents to his company. He did not receive revenues or royalties on his inventions.

The site states that Airmid is" seeking a committed pharma partner for development of any or all of three autoimmune products:
ORAL OR TOPICAL PSORIASIS DRUG
ORAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS DRUG
INJECTABLE MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS DRUG"

I hope they can work out any issues, find a partner, and get going on trials. It would really be a huge loss to everyone if this drug was held up because of money issues.

sigh,
AC

rainer wrote:I passed this on to the fast forward group and they say they've been in contact with Dr. Chandy. Hopefully, they hook him up with some $$$.

Keep us posted on any developments here.

gwa

dignan wrote:GWA, I think your suggestion about control makes sense. I saw something on the Bionomics website (company coming out with their own kv1.3 inhibitor, so take this with a grain or two of salt) that could possibly make some big pharma less interested:

ShK-L5 advantages: High Selectivity to KV1.3
ShK-L5 disadvantages: Polypeptide (Large Molecule), Not orally available, Expensive

Also, this report does make for an interesting read if you want to know where things stood with Kv1.3 research 2 years ago (and who doesn't?!)...
http://www.bionomics.com.au/siteFiles/f ... Report.pdf

I read the bionomics pages dealing with MS in particular and now need to go back and watch the video again to try and figure out if the two companies are working on the same approach or if Dr. Chandry's ideas are slightly different. I didn't see anything on the other website that told about improvement in any model, unlike Dr. Chandry's mouse presentation.

As far as expense of the drug, the tens of thousands of $$$ per person spent yearly to take meds that are barely 30% effective seems REALLY expensive to me.

gwa

A couple of interesting articles today about Airmid teaming up with Kineta to move their Kv1.3 channel blocker into phase 1 trials quickly. I hope this pans out...


Kineta Acquires Novel Drug Candidates from Airmid for Potential Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis, Type 1 Diabetes and other Autoimmune

July 7, 2009 | Kineta, Inc. of Seattle and Airmid Incorporated of Redwood City, CA jointly announce an agreement in which a Kineta subsidiary has acquired exclusive commercial rights to a portfolio of novel therapeutic compounds from Airmid. The array of compounds holds extraordinary potential for the treatment of multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes mellitus and numerous other autoimmune diseases.

“This transaction is a significant milestone for Airmid. It places our peptidic Kv1.3 blockers into the very capable hands of Kineta’s drug development team, sets Airmid on a path to provide substantial return-on-investment for our shareholders, and provides funding to enhance the value of Airmid’s retained assets,” said George Miljanich, Ph.D., CEO of Airmid. Under the terms of the deal, Airmid will receive upfront payments, development, regulatory and commercial milestones as well as sales royalties.

Airmid founder, K. George Chandy, MD, Ph.D., also applauded the announcement: “Kineta possesses both the scientific capacity and the track record of success necessary to advance these promising therapeutics toward the goal of conquering multiple devastating autoimmune diseases.”

Following today’s agreement, Kineta One, LLC (a subsidiary of Kineta, Inc.) will aggressively pursue additional preclinical studies on a lead compound. The company intends to file an investigational new drug (IND) application with the FDA and begin clinical trials in 2010. “We are very excited to move forward. Dr. Chandy is an extraordinary scientist who has made an exceptional contribution to the scientific field of autoimmune disease. He will remain an integral advisor to our scientific team,” said Kineta President and CEO, Charles Magness, Ph.D.

for the rest: Pipelinreview

This is another article that describes Kineta a little more:
Xconomy.com

The video on youtube has been removed . Is there any other known source?

--Frank