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MolecularMD Signs Licensing Agreement With Oregon Health & Science University

Posted on: Wednesday, 28 May 2008, 12:00 CDT

MolecularMD has entered into a licensing agreement with the Oregon Health & Science University to obtain exclusive commercial rights to patented intellectual property related to the detection of Gleevec resistant BCR-ABL mutations.

Gleevec a targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor drug is said to be a highly effective front line therapy for the treatment of chronic mylogenous leukemia (CML). The drug blocks the unregulated enzyme activity of the fusion tyrosine kinase protein BCR-ABL. BCR-ABL stems from a chromosomal translocation forming the Philadelphia chromosome present in malignant bone marrow cells of CML patients.

While most CML patients exhibit excellent primary response to imatinib, a proportion of patients develop acquired secondary resistance via point mutations in the ABL kinase domain. These mutations can interfere with the binding of imatinib to the BCR-ABL protein and lead to disease progression.

Brian Druker, scientific founder of MolecularMD, said: "MolecularMD is well positioned to further develop methods for the detection of Gleevec resistant mutations and to support clinical, pharmaceutical, and diagnostic organizations dedicated to improving CML patient outcomes."

Source: Datamonitor

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