UPDATE: Medtronic, Eli Lilly To Collaborate On Parkinson's
26 Avril 2011 - 9:25PM
Dow Jones News
Medtronic Inc. (MDT) and Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY) agreed to
collaborate on an early stage research project for a potential
Parkinson's disease treatment that involves delivering medication
directly to the brain.
The pact adds to Medtronic's roster of projects aimed at using
implantable drug pumps and catheters to circumvent the blood-brain
barrier. The tightly packed network of cells in brain capillaries
only lets certain substances through, such as key nutrients, making
brain-based disorders an elusive target for drug makers.
Medtronic, the largest stand-alone medical-device maker, already
has a handful of other Parkinson's collaborations underway. The
company is also working through home-grown efforts and
collaborations on potential treatments for other brain diseases,
such as Alzheimer's and Huntington's.
The latest effort with Lilly is still many years from yielding a
marketable treatment or even starting human testing, so it remains
to be seen whether it will become a major contributor for either
company. The companies didn't disclose terms of their agreement,
but a Medtronic spokesman said it spans early research through
product development and potential commercialization.
Parkinson's is a progressive, degenerative brain disorder that
affects nearly 1 million Americans, according to the Parkinson's
Disease Foundation, and can lead to tremors and other movement
problems. The disease, which has no cure, is thought to be caused
by the death of neurons that produce the important chemical
messenger dopamine. Lilly's treatment approach involves a modified
form of a protein called "glial cell derived neurotrophic factor,"
or GDNF, which is designed to protect these neurons.
Seven years ago, Amgen Inc. (AMGN) stopped studying a potential
GDNF Parkinson's treatment delivered with Medtronic equipment
because it didn't appear effective. But Lilly hopes its compound,
together with Medtronic's modernized delivery system, will
"overcome some prior technical hurdles," said Ros Smith, senior
research director of regenerative biology at Lilly. The company
believes its GDNF variant has potential to have broader
distribution in the brain than prior versions.
The drug may not enter human clinical trials for up to five
years, Smith said.
Medtronic's system involves small catheters that are implanted
in the brain and connected to a hockey puck-sized pump, which would
likely be implanted in the abdomen. At this point it isn't known
whether the treatment would involve short- or long-term infusion,
or what specific areas of the brain might be targeted, said Steve
Oesterle, senior vice president of medicine and technology at
Medtronic.
The company already has experience finding and delivering
treatment to parts of the brain responsible for Parkinson's through
its "deep-brain stimulation" business, which makes pacemaker-like
implants that deliver electrical stimulation through electrodes.
That approach is used to treat Parkinson's symptoms, however, while
drug approaches from Lilly and other companies have potential to
restore damaged parts of the brain, Oesterle said.
The key is getting the drugs on site, rather than having them
circulate through the body but get stymied by the blood-brain
barrier. Medtronic has previously disclosed partnerships with small
drug developers Neurologix Inc. (NRGX) and privately held NeuroNova
AB of Sweden on potential Parkinson's treatment.
-By Jon Kamp, Dow Jones Newswires; 617-654-6728;
jon.kamp@dowjones.com
--Peter Loftus and Matt Jarzemsky contributed to this
article.