november AG receives grant for BSE research
03-Aug-2001
november AG, specializing in
Molecular medicine, participates in BSE research with a new
project. The Erlangen/Germany-based biotechnology
company is listed on the New Market segment of the
Frankfurt Stock Exchange. An international expert
commission has recommended the company among other
research institutions to receive a grant within the national
TSE research network. TSE stands for "transmissible
spongiform encephalopathies", which comprises all
infectious sponge-like diseases of the brain, e.g. the new
variant of human Creutzfeldt Jakob disease, scrapie with
sheep or as well 'mad cow disease' (BSE).
Within the following years, the Federal Ministry of
education and Research (BMBF) will support the
development of new diagnostic and therapeutic tools
against TSE diseases by approximately 23 million DM. Of
this sum, 8 million DM will go into TSE diagnostic research.
november has projected total costs of approximately 2.5
million DM for its project running until 2004. The BMBF will
support projects by grants of up to 50 percent.
In detail, the Frankonian biotechnologists are going to
participate in the development of marketable techniques
for the diagnosis of TSE. november will contribute with one
of its core competences, the electrohybridization technique.
For the detection of biomolecules, electrohybridization
makes use of their specific properties like charge,
conductivity or mutual recognition processes. Examples of
such biomolecules are DNA as the carrier of genetic
information or proteins. For DNA, november AG already
employs this technology for the development of
"Lab-on-a-Strip". Applications for this systems will be the
detection of bacterial or viral infections at the point of
care, e.g. the doctor's surgery or at the hospital. TSE
research concentrates on certain proteins, called 'prions'.
Infectious prions are believed to play an important role in
the development of BSE as well as in subsequent brain
destruction. The specific task for november will be to
facilitate the detection of the TSE pathogen, for example
by use of electrohybridization. Prions will be enriched
electrochemically. By that the amount of infectious
material necessary for diagnosis will be significantly
reduced. This aims at the development of a reliable and
cost-efficient test for application at the living animal. Thus,
animals bearing BSE will be removed from the herd at an
early stage. These detection techniques will be
transferable to the early diagnosis of Alzheimer disease,
which is also believed to be related to specific proteins.
Dr. Wolf M. Bertling, CEO of november AG: "We are very
satisfied to have been selected for support in the first
round of the Federal Ministry's program regarding
innovative projects for TSE research. This underlines the
high quality of our electrohybridization technique in which
we have profound expertise at november AG."
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