Receptagen Expands Apoptosis Agreement

Receptagen has signed an agreement to expand research into drugs which regulate apoptosis, or programmed cell death, with the Institute for Biological Sciences of the National Research Council in Ottawa, Canada. The company already has an agreement with the NRC regarding the development of drugs which induce apoptosis by depleting vitamin B12 in cancer cells.

The new agreement will expand this initial focus to include developing small molecule drugs which are able to inhibit accelerated apoptosis, for example as occurs in neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's disease. The company is already evaluating an oral, non-toxic drug that can inhibit cell death.

The company's other activities in the area of apoptosis include the development of CoQ10 or co-enzyme Q10, the rights to which it acquired when it bought Ryan Pharmaceuticals last year. The basis behind this treatment is that supplementation of this co-enzyme, which is an important player in the metabolic production of energy in the cell, will divert HIV-infected T cells from the path of apoptosis and maintain immune function.