Lauren Sciences LLC awarded MJFF grant to develop a V-SmartTM therapeutic for Parkinson's disease

Lauren Sciences LLC, a privately-held biotechnology company furthering development of its new V-Smart™ nanovesicle platform technology, announced today the award of a grant from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research (MJFF). The grant from MJFF will support development of the novel V-Smart™ nanovesicles for systemic, targeted delivery of GDNF (glial-derived naturetic factor) across the blood brain barrier (BBB) to the brain for treatment of Parkinson's disease.

"We thank The Michael J. Fox Foundation for this award," said Susan Rosenbaum, Esq., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lauren Sciences. "The MJFF award provides significant recognition of our innovative V-Smart™ drug delivery system and its strong potential to transform the treatment of Parkinson's disease with an effective therapeutic that overcomes the historical challenge of developing drugs that cross the blood brain barrier."

"One of our Foundation's major goals is to find a disease-modifying therapy for PD," said Todd Sherer, PhD, CEO of MJFF. "Trophic factors, natural neuroprotective and regenerative proteins which do not get into the brain by existing oral or intravenous delivery, have shown the potential to do just this, by protecting the dopamine cells that die during the course of the disease. The challenges associated with the delivery of trophic factors therefore represent a critical unmet need in the field of PD research."

"Optimized V-Smart™ vesicles formulated with GDNF has promise as an effective new treatment for patients," said Irwin Hollander, Ph.D., Vice President, Research and Development, Lauren Sciences. "We hope it will be able to stop progression of, or reverse, Parkinson's disease, unlike other drugs that provide merely symptomatic relief. It is anticipated that our successful delivery of GDNF to the brain will lead to future efficacy studies in Parkinson's disease pre-clinical models and, thereafter, clinical studies in Parkinson's disease patients."

"Our pre-clinical studies demonstrate that novel nano-sized V-Smart™ vesicles encapsulate small molecules, peptides, proteins and nucleic acids, cross the BBB and release their encapsulated contents in the brain," said Eliahu Heldman, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Lauren Sciences LLC. "Our goal is to target, protect and restore dopaminergic neurons (nerve cells) in the brain that deteriorate during the course of Parkinson's disease. The success of this project should improve Parkinson's patients' lives."

Provided by Lauren Sciences LLC