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Mechanism Focused Research
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Our scientists take a 'systems biology' approach to understanding the mechanisms for initiation and control of the inflammatory process as it relates to disease. As a result, we are discovering the molecular details of the etiology for many of the chronic diseases plaguing mankind. This approach has yielded and continues to yield new drug-like molecules and drugable targets representing whole new medical strategies and new classes of therapeutics for the treatment of these diseases.
At the Institute for Hepatitis and Virus Research, our scientists are discovering new strategies for activating the immune response in Hepatitis B Virus infected human liver cells to suppress viral replication and effect virion particle clearance.
Our research results have validated our underlying belief that selective modulation of the host-response to infection is a viable strategy for treatment and prevention of infectious diseases. These results are currently being prepared as manuscripts for publication in leading medical and immunology research journals.
We are beginning to apply our new found knowledge of innate immune regulation and inflammation to examine the etiology of a wider variety of chronic diseases to include atherosclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, graft v. host disease, Scleroderma, and metastatic disease.
Because our business strategy closely integrates basic research with product development, the translation of this basic new knowledge to clinically useful drugs has been shortened and therefore, the cost of new drug development is significantly lowered.
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TherimuneX maintains strategic research agreements with acacemic researchers whose underlying philosophy is consistent with our own and whose research programs are targeting diseases of interest.
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Carol M. Artlett, PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Microbiology and Immunology
Drexel University College of Medicine
Dr. Artlett's laboratory is focusing on the fundamental understanding of the immunological and fibrotic events that mediate Scleroderma. Understanding the mechanism of inflammasome activation in fibroblasts and the mechanisms whereby fibroblasts interact with the extra-cellular matrix are central to her research. Dr. Artlett's laboratory has shown that deletion of the NALP3 or the ASC proteins inhibited fibrosis in a bleomycin induced fibrotic animal model of Scleroderma. Her laboratory recently demonstrated that an analog of the TherimuneX drug, acALY-18, inhibited collagen and caspase-1 expression in fibroblasts.
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Richard F. Rest, PhD
Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology
Drexel University College of Medicine
Dr. Rest is an internationally recognized microbiologist and his research career has spanned more than 30 years. His laboratory is studying the pathogenesis, virulence, and toxicity of three major medically important bacterial pathogens: Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Neisseria meningitidis, and Bacillus anthracis. Dr. Rest's laboratory recently discovered a new cholesterol-dependent cytolysin, Anthrolysin O, and is continuing to investigate the biological effects of this new toxin. Dr. Rest maintains a specially designed BSL2/BSL3 laboratory suite for his studies with these pathogens. His laboratory conducts the in vivo mouse studies of MRSA/SSTI with the TherimuneX drug acALY-18.
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Brian J. Balin, PhD
Director, Center for Chronic Disorders of Aging
Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine
Dr. Balin is an internationally recognized expert in the field of Alzheimer's Disease research. Dr. Balin's seminal studies have pioneered the understanding that monocytes infected with the persistent form of Chlamydia pneumoniae is a major etiological factor for late-onset Alzheimer's Disease. Drs. Balin and Appelt have recently shown that the TherimuneX drug (acALY-18) effectively clears C. pneumoniae from infected human monocytes and significantly alters the inflammatory gene expression profile of infected monocytes. Research in the Balin and Appelt laboratories is on-going to tease apart the signaling mechanisms for the effect of acALY-18.
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Denah Appelt, PhD
Professor, Department of Neuroscience, Physiology, and Pharmacology
Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine
Dr. Appelt's is internationally recognized for her work on Alzheimer's disease. She is an investigator of an Alzheimer's Association funded study and an Adolph and Rose Levis Foundation study investigating the Chlamydia pneumoniae infectious etiology of late-onset Alzheimer's Disease. Dr. Appelt's laboratory has been instrumental in establishing the efficacy of acALY-18 in the clearance of C. pneumoniae from infected human monocytes. Her laboratory is continuing to investigate the mechanism of action for acALY-18 clearance of this pathogen.
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