IXICO PLC (LON:IXI) has said it is providing its neuroscience and data analytics expertise to a trial being run by NYU Langone Health to assess a new and potentially breakthrough use for a drug called Sirolimus.
Currently used to help prevent organ transplant rejection, the immunosuppressant is also able to slow the progression of multiple system atrophy (MSA) – a condition of the central nervous system that causes gradual damage to nerve cells in the brain.
The project with NYU Langone involves applying of IXICO's existing MSA analysis solutions to MRI retrospectively collected data from patients with the condition, as well as those that have dementia with Lewy Bodies, Parkinson's disease, and progressive supranuclear palsy.
The pair will also jointly develop a method to analyse susceptibility-weighted imaging, an MRI sequence that is particularly sensitive to compounds that distort the local magnetic field.
In a statement, Dr Robin Wolz, senior vice president for science and innovation at IXICO, said: "This collaboration will help to accelerate the quest for new treatments for multiple system atrophy by bringing together some of the leading researchers in the field from both academia and industry with the specific goal of developing new tools to better understand and characterise this debilitating disease."
