June 23, 2015
By
Mark Terry
, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
Saratoga, Calif.-based nonprofit, The
Myelin Repair Foundation (MRF)
,
announced
yesterday that it was shutting down. The stated reason was the difficulty in raising funds to keep up with, in the foundation’s case, surprisingly low research costs.
The
MRF
was founded in 2002 by
Scott Johnson
, a California entrepreneur who had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when he was 20. The
MRF
’s research model was dubbed the
Accelerated Research Collaboration (ARC)
model, which allowed researchers in different labs that received
MRF
funding to perform experiments together and share results in real time.
Funding for
MRF
came from the
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
, the
Donaghue Foundation
, the
Thomas H. Maren Foundation
,
U.S. Venture Partners
and others. For the most part,
MRF
operated on about $5 million annually. Despite this relatively low level of funding, its approach had an impact.
In his closing letter, Johnson points out that although the
MRF
received donations from 29 countries, 92 percent of its revenue came from only 56 donors.
“Recently several large donations that we had been counting on failed to materialize. As a result we do not have sufficient funds to fund our next fiscal year which begins on July 1. In order to ensure that our accomplishments to date and work in progress best serve MS patients, we will use the funds we have in hand to preserve the science and momentum we have created.”
The
MRF
plans to shutter its doors on Aug. 31, 2015.
On June 14, 2002, the
MRF
announced
a myelin repair Phase I clinical trial for MS that was two years ahead of schedule.
It was conducted at
Cleveland Clinic
and was designed to study the efficacy of a new myelin repair pathway with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) based on
MRF
-support research conducted by
Robert Miller
, professor of neurosciences and vice president for research and technology management at
Case Western Reserve University
.
Recently, on April 30, 2015, the
MRF
, in partnership with the
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
,
announced
that patients were being enrolled in a clinical trial to study guanabenz, an
FDA
-approved drug for high blood pressure that was targeted by
MRF
-funded researched as a possible therapy to cut the loss of myelin in MS patients.
The trial is a collaboration between the
MRF
and the
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
at
NIH
. It is being led by
Irene Cortese
and
Daniel Reich
of the
NIH
.
In a statement on the
foundation’s website
,
Al Sandrock
, chief medical officer of
Biogen, Inc.
, said, “The
MRF
was the pioneer in identifying the need for and driving the importance of myelin repair, as well as bringing together top experts in the field to move groundbreaking research forward. The work of the foundation and its innovative approach to collaboration has sparked many companies to begin their own research in this important space.”
This was echoed by
Ben Starres
, a researcher at
Stanford University
, stating, “With the
MRF
drug validation unit, we were just in the process of converting these discoveries into new drugs and it is tragic that this work is now coming to an abrupt halt just as it was about to bear fruit for MS patients. Because I do not believe there is any entity, pharma included, that will fill the gap left as
MRF
closes down.”
As Rumors Swirl About GlaxoSmithKline Bid, Who Could Suitors Be?
Rumors are swirling
that Swiss-based
Roche
and U.S.-based
Johnson & Johnson
are eying the U.K. company for approximately $143 billion. But
Roche
and
J&J
aren’t the only companies though who have been thought could go after the elephant that is Glaxo.
Last month there was buzz that
Pfizer Inc.
was considering acquiring
Glaxo
, a year after it failed to acquire
AstraZeneca PLC
. Just this month over a third of respondents in a poll conducted by
BioSpace
believe that
AstraZeneca PLC
could be in the running to acquire struggling
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)
.
So
BioSpace
wants to ask our readers again what they predict for this new dealmaking bonanza. Will
Glaxo
go—and if so, to whom?
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