This technology agreement expands NeoTherapeutics' scope of research and potentially gives us a broader pipeline for developing therapies for unmet medical needs. Civelli's research concentrates on matching neurotransmitters in the body with receptors and searching for their effects on a wide variety of physiological functions. If a transmitter is found to bind to a receptor in the body, then the receptor and the chemical could be used to develop new pharmaceuticals. One receptor covered under the agreement with NeoTherapeutics binds to a chemical called MCH, or melanin-concentrating hormone, which plays an important role in the regulation of eating behavior. Other areas of research by Civelli under the agreements include receptors and chemicals that play roles in cardiovascular disease, stress-related health problems and other disorders.
Scientists test a wide variety of chemicals until they come upon one that binds to the receptor.
Then they examine what the receptor looks like and how it functions. With NeoTherapeutics' support, we expect to expand our discoveries of new neurotransmitters that could result in a wide range of new therapies. NeoTherapeutics is a development-stage biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and development of novel therapeutic drugs intended to treat neurological diseases and conditions. Compounds currently under development by NeoTherapeutics address a variety of neurological diseases and disorders, including Alzheimer's disease and dementia, spinal cord injury, stroke, Parkinson's disease, migraine headaches, depression and obesity. The Regents of the University of California.