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News Release
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The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
‫האוניברסיטה העברית בירושלים‬
Hebrew University Receives Its Largest NIH Research
Grant Ever -- $5.6 Million Biodefense Award
Jerusalem, September 25, 2005 – A research grant of $5.6 million in the field of
biodefense has been awarded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases (NIAID), part of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), to a Hebrew
University of Jerusalem researcher for the development of a broadly effective
drug against a family of toxins called superantigens.
The award is the largest competitive grant ever made to the Hebrew University
and to an Israeli researcher from the NIH. Funds were awarded under the NIAID
Biodefense Challenge Grants program, which encourages private industry to work
with academic investigators in order to develop countermeasures against potential
agents of bioterrorism.
Product development will be done in collaboration with Atox Bio, a company
established by Yissum, the Technology Transfer Company of the Hebrew
University, in keeping with its strategy of commercializing promising
technologies by establishing new companies.
Superantigens are deadly toxins produced by staphylococcal and streptococcal
bacteria that even in very low amounts can incapacitate humans, posing a
bioterror threat. These toxins are also responsible for a majority of fatal toxic and
septic shock cases, yet no drug or vaccine against them is available. The toxins
released by these bacteria are insensitive to antibiotics.
The $5.6-million award was made to Dr. Raymond Kaempfer to support research
and product development leading up to clinical trial of the toxin antagonist. The
NIH review panel has termed the research unique in the world.
Kaempfer, who is the Philip Marcus Professor of Molecular Biology and Cancer
Research in the Department of Molecular Virology at the Hebrew University
Faculty of Medicine, and his colleague, Dr. Gila Arad, previously uncovered a
novel molecular mechanism by which the superantigen toxins elicit a vastly
exaggerated immune response that leads to death.
The researchers used this insight to design peptides (short stretches of protein) that
block this harmful response in animals, thereby protecting and rescuing them from
lethal toxic and septic shock. What remained was an immune response that was
adequate to halt the toxins but without the excess that brings on shock. Indeed,
once protected, the survivors became immune to further toxin challenges.
Prof. Kaempfer’s earlier research which led up to the NIAID award was funded by
the US Department of Defense and by its Defense Advanced Research Projects
Agency (DARPA) with a series of grants in excess of $6.5 million.
Kaempfer’s laboratory will conduct basic research on antagonist mode of action,
essential for eventual drug approval. Preclinical development, which will take the
bulk of the award, will be carried out by UK and US subcontractors under the
direction of Atox Bio which holds the license to the intellectual property.
“The grant will fund development of Atox Bio’s drug for biodefense, using a
shortened pathway towards US Food and Drug Administration approval that
requires only the completion of Phase I clinical trials for licensure,” said Uri
Danon, CEO, Atox Bio. “This will allow us to reach a break-even point fast in
order to finance future advanced development of drugs to treat diseases with
unmet medical needs.”
For further information: Jerry Barach, Dept. of Media Relations, the Hebrew University,
Tel: 02-588-2904. Orit Sulitzeanu, Hebrew University spokesperson, Tel: 02-588-2811.