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[news 2001-2002]
RPP
grant to further Queen's-NRC investigations into
novel nitrate drugs
March 25, 2002
KINGSTON, ON – A research collaboration between
scientists at Queen's University and the National
Research Council into the mechanisms of nitrate drug
action has been awarded a $300,000 grant under the federal
Research Partnerships Program (RPP).
Jointly funded by the Natural Sciences & Engineering
Research Council (NSERC), the National Research Council
(NRC) and Kingston-based GB Therapeutics Ltd., the grant
supports collaborative research by Drs. Greg Thatcher
and Brian Bennett of Queen's University with NRC
scientists Dr. Linda Johnston, leader of the NRC Chemical
Biology Program, and Dr. Keith Ingold, NRC Distinguished
Scientist and a world-renowned authority on free radicals.
The research will build on early discoveries by the
Queen's researchers relating to the properties
of nitroglycerin, a nitrate drug widely used in the
treatment of heart disease since 1876. These researchers
have created new nitrate molecules that offer greatly
expanded benefits to human health, but avoid the unwanted
effects of nitroglycerin.
"Nitroglycerin has improved quality of life for
125 years -- its therapeutic activity is intimately
associated with nitric oxide (NO), a free radical that
is used by the body to carry out many important biological
roles," says Dr. Greg Thatcher of the Department
of Chemistry. "I argued many years ago that there
was great scope for better understanding of nitroglycerin
and NO through the design and synthesis of novel nitrates.
It turns out that these novel nitrates have even greater
therapeutic potential than nitroglycerin itself."
"Several of these novel nitrates possess distinct
properties that we think will permit their use in a
broad range of human diseases, including heart attack
and stroke, where cellular protection is needed,"
says Dr. Bennett of the Department of Pharmacology and
Toxicology, "Currently there is no treatment for
the cellular damage caused by cardiovascular and neurodegenerative
diseases."
"The nitrate research of Greg Thatcher, Brian Bennett
and their collaborators at Queen's has been built
into a substantial patent portfolio by PARTEQ, the technology
transfer arm of Queen's University," says
Ian K. Anderson, CEO of GB Therapeutics. "The task
of GB Therapeutics has been to move forward this technology,
to develop novel nitrate drug candidates that will get
to market and provide real benefits to human health."
"Understanding of the basic biological chemistry
of nitrates provides GB Therapeutics with a distinct
advantage in discovery and development of new therapeutic
agents," says James Reynolds, VP Biological Sciences
of GB Therapeutics, "GB Therapeutics is well aware
of the benefits of basic research, and is excited to
have a team involving Dr Ingold, the world leader in
physical organic and biological studies of free radicals,
working on the fundamental science behind nitrates and
NO."
The team of Drs. Bennett, Ingold, Johnston, and Thatcher
will define chemical mechanisms for radical reactions
of nitrates, in particular those generating the NO radical.
Novel nitrates under development by GB Therapeutics
provide benefits such as cellular protection and cognition
enhancement, with future applications in the treatment
of heart attack, stroke, and epilepsy.
Contact:
Dr. Greg Thatcher
Dept. of Chemistry,
Queen's University
613. 533. 2640
thatcher@post.queensu.ca
James Reynolds
Vice-President, Biological Sciences
GB Therapeutics
613.545.1239
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