MELBOURNE, Australia, Aug. 29 /PRNewswire/
-- After British studies revealed a much greater potential for the spread
of fatal brain diseases such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, the human
variant of Mad Cow Disease, Australian-based Prana Biotechnology Limited
has today announced it may have the technology to help develop a
treatment. The technology arises out of discoveries made at the Department
of Pathology at the University of Melbourne in Australia.
The British researchers' announcement by the London-based Medical
Research Council is of concern for health authorities as it shows the
diseases could be more widespread than previously thought and that healthy
appearing animals can be carriers of the disease. In the UK the incidence of these diseases is increasing at an alarming
rate of 20 to 30% per annum. There is currently no available cure for this
fatal disease. Mad Cow Disease entered the human food chain in 1996
leading to a collapse of the entire United Kingdom beef trade at the
time. "Prana Biotechnology has commenced phase II clinical trials for
the treatment of Alzheimer's Disease that could be used for
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease," said Mr. Geoffrey Kempler, Executive
Chairman of Prana Biotechnology. "Prana has the potential to be the first to progress to clinical
trials. We will now accelerate pre-clinical work on development of a
therapeutic treatment for the prevention of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. "The latest finding by the British researchers suggests that the
risk of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease is greater than previously thought and
this makes development of a treatment a more urgent priority." Prana Biotechnology's work is based on its discoveries about the
relationship between aggregation-prone proteins susceptible to
metal-mediated oxidative stress. In the case of Alzheimer's Disease the
target protein is Amyloid, in Creutzfedt-Jakob disease it is the Prion
protein, which in many ways resembles the Amyloid protein of Alzheimer's
Disease. SOURCE: Prana Biotechnology Limited ST: Australia
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