Icogen Corporation has received an award for a Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institute of Aging (NIA) to develop an Alzheimer's disease therapeutic. The funded research uses Icogen's ISOPLeC technology to target and adjust the level of a key peptide responsible for the development of Alzheimer's disease. ISOPLeC is Icogen's proprietary technology for the identification of protein effector compounds.

"This is a significant validation of our scientific approach by knowledgeable scientists reviewing the SBIR grant application," comments Frederick S. Hagen, Icogen's founder and CEO.

This grant will further the collaborative efforts between Icogen and BioArctic Neuroscience, of Uppsala, Sweden. The project combines Icogen's ISOPLeC technology with the Alzheimer's disease expertise of Prof. Lars Lannfelt of the Uppsala University Hospital, and co-founder of BioArctic Neuroscience.

With more than 10 years of research experience in the field of dementia, Dr. Lannfelt and his laboratory have made key discoveries in the Alzheimer's field with the identification of two human mutations that affect the level of amyloid peptide in the brain. All individuals inheriting these mutations develop early onset Alzheimer's disease, providing strong evidence for the importance of the amyloid peptide to the development of the disease. "We are enthusiastic and excited about this collaboration to develop an Alzheimer's disease therapeutic," states Prof. Lannfelt.

There is a significant and growing need for Alzheimer's disease therapeutics. The disease affects 5% of people at 65 years of age, 20% at age 80, and 50% at age 85. Alzheimer's disease is a large burden to society costing the American public $100 billion in 2002 with this cost expected to escalate with the general aging of the American population. "The business and humanitarian elements of this endeavor are very compelling," proclaims Dr. Gellerfors, CEO and cofounder of BioArctic Neuroscience.