Companies to collaborate on research for ALS disease

Toronto, ON – Theranostics company Amorfix Life Sciences says it has entered into a research and investment agreement with Biogen Idec of Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The agreement includes an option to license the exclusive worldwide rights to Amorfix’s technology to develop and commercialize therapeutic products directed against the neurodegenerative disease Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).

Amorfix says it will conduct a planned research program with operational support and investment from Biogen Idec.

“To ensure a rapid translation of our technology to clinical trials, we chose to partner with a world-leading biotechnology company that will bring significant resources and expertise in the preclinical and clinical validation of Amorfix’s approach to treatments for neurodegenerative diseases,” says Dr Neil Cashman, Amorfixs chief scientific officer.

Amorfix focusses on the diagnosis and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, where aggregated misfolded proteins are prevalent. These include aggregated misfolded prion protein, which are the infectious agents of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy and the human form, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, as well as degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease.