Biotech Startup Novare Pharmaceuticals Launches In Boston
October 7, 2014
By Jessica Wilson, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
Allied Minds today announced the launch of Novare Pharmaceuticals, a biotech company focused on products that use the novel RHAMM modulation technology for the treatment of a variety of conditions.
RHAMM, which is a key protein in cells, stands for the Receptor for Hyaluronan Mediated Motility. RHAMM, which is normally located inside a cell, but can be released with specific stimulation, regulates cell movement and stem cell differentiation.
“RHAMM modulation also represents a breakthrough in tissue engineering and holds the promise of regeneration and reconstruction of women’s breasts through the localized stimulation of the body’s own regenerative processes after a mastectomy,” said the Boston-based science and technology development and commercialization company in a press release.
Eva Turley, an oncology scientist at the London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) in London, Ontario, Canada is leading the research, which she is undertaking in collaboration with MJ Bissell, a cell biologist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories in Berkeley, California.
Novare has licensed from LHSC additional RHAMM compounds discovered by Turley and Leonard Luyt, a peptide chemist at LHSC. The newly licensed RHAMM compounds double Novare’s library of RHAMM-binding peptides. Turley will serve as Novare’s chief scientist.
Modulation of RHAMM may successfully treat arthritis, fibrotic diseases such as Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (BPD) in premature infants and Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF), and may reduce or eliminate keloid scars, which are tough, irregularly shaped scars that progressively enlarge. The treatment works by helping the body replenish and rebuild its own tissue.
Turley and her colleagues discovered that manipulating RHAMM can promote subcutaneous fat generation, reduce destructive inflammation, and reduce scarring (fibrosis) by making use of the body’s natural regenerative processes.
“We are excited by the opportunity to further explore the potential therapeutic applications of RHAMM modulation technologies as the studies conducted to date show promising, medically relevant, drug-induced biological responses,” said Michael Delmage, chief executive officer of Novare, in a statement.
Novare is an expansion of ProGDerm, an existing subsidiary of Allied Minds. Previous to the launch of Novare, ProGDerm focused on aesthetic applications for the RHAMM therapy. Novare will continue this work, as well.
Allied Minds aids the transfer of discoveries made at universities and federal research institutions to the commercial market, working with the tech transfer departments of these institutions. Allied Minds is a holding company that supports its various businesses with capital, central management and shared services.