KVCC Pharma Screening Center In Two Deals

The Michigan High Throughput Screening Center at Kalamazoo Valley Community College has been chosen to screen compounds for Alzheimer's treatment research, officials announced Tuesday.

The center also announced a partnership with Genemarkers, a custom genomics research provider.

The center's executive director, Robert Kilkuskie, will lead the screening project to identify small molecules targeting tau oligomers for a New York-based biopharmaceutical company.

Oligomerix Inc. has received a two-year Small Business Innovation Research Phase II grant for $1.6 million from the National Institute on Aging, part of the National Institutes of Health. The goals of their program are to discover small molecules and antibodies targeting tau protein oligomers in the development of disease modifying therapeutics for Alzheimer's disease.

Many researchers now suspect that smaller, still-soluble clusters of the protein amyloid-beta, known as oligomers, are the main source of neuron-harming toxicity in Alzheimer's, not the better-known A-beta plaques.

Kilkuskie said the screening project will begin this summer and conclude by fall. His team will help Oligomerix's scientists identify compounds that may have an impact on treating Alzheimer's disease.

"Oligomerix has developed a novel approach in terms of Alzheimer's disease targeting," Kilkuskie said. "They have a new target and a novel assay. We believe that screening our compound library will provide them with good starting points for new Alzheimer's therapies."

There is a large and rapidly growing medical need for disease modifying drugs for Alzheimer's disease. There are 18 million cases of the disease worldwide; by 2025 this number is expected to increase to 34 million. Direct costs in United States are $171 billion and growing. No drugs are available for treating the underlying neurodegenerative processes.

Said Oligomerix president James Moe: "Recent advances in the field indicate that tau oligomers are involved in Alzheimer's disease progression and inhibit memory formation. Reducing tau oligomers with small molecule or antibody therapeutics should halt or reverse the course of Alzheimer's and related neurodegenerative diseases."

Kalamazoo-based Genemarkers, meanwhile, is led led by Anna Jelaso Langerveld. She holds a bachelor's degree from the State University of New York at Binghamton and a Ph.D. from the Interdisciplinary Neurosciences Program at Tulane University. She is the former director of the Environmental Institute's Genomics Facility at Western Michigan University.

Kilkuskie said his team will provide Genemarkers with cell culture and support services. While this type of testing is not a part of the center's core business, Kilkuskie said it's a good arrangement for both businesses.

"It's a good fit because we're two small groups," Kilkuskie said. "We're flexible and we can custom design studies for people."

Genemarkers designs genomics-based studies for customers.

"Like the MHTSC, my company is a service provider that specializes in genomics testing," Langerveld said. "Our strengths and capabilities complement each other, so Rob and I are able to offer more comprehensive services to each of our customers. A partnership is a great way to expand our respective capabilities, without detracting from our core strengths. One of the major hurdles in collaboration is finding people who are professional and easy to get along with. In that regard, Rob and his team are great."

Kilkuskie said he thinks the partnership is a logical step. If it works out as well as he and Langerveld expect it to, the standard offerings at both businesses will expand.

The screening center, located at KVCC's Groves campus in Texas Township, provides high quality assay development, high throughput and high content screening and complete data analysis services to academic institutions, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, and governmental laboratories. Kilkuskie has more than 20 years of drug discovery experience in both pharmaceutical and biotech companies. He has received three patents and his work has appeared in more than 20 scientific publications. Kilkuskie serves as a reviewer for the National Institute of Health Molecular Libraries Screening Center Network.

More at http://mhtsc.kvcc.edu.