Wahlestedt Lab
Department of Neuroscience
In The News
Endeavor
Watching the Dark : Claes Wahlestedt Finds Answers in Unexpected Places pg. 18
http://www.scripps.edu/news/endeavor/
endeavor2008/end11_3.pdf
Palm Beach Post, Feb. 26th, 2009 Crist cuts ribbon at Scripps, declares 2009 Florida's 'year of science' "...Scripps now boasts two spinoff companies, each based around Scripps technology.
The companies - ...CURNA, founded last summer by neurobiologist Dr. Claes Wahlestedt - are in their infancy, fed by investments from local entrepreneurs.
They're taking different paths in pursuit of their science. CURNA is working on a totally new kind of drug, one that amplifies the body's own healing potential. CURNA is hiring locally and setting up not far from Scripps in a Jupiter bioscience incubator built by Alexandria Real Estate Equities.
cuRNA
Personnel: Dr. Claes Wahlestedt, director, Central Nervous System Discovery, The Scripps Research Institute, Consulting scientist
CEO, Joe Collard, former founder of Technisource, an employment services firm which was bought by Spherion
Q: Why is the company called cuRNA and how do you pronounce it?
Collard: "We want it to be pronounced Cure-ina. Claes wants us to concentrate on cures. Hidden inside the word is the RNA, which is the vehicle we use to achieve the cures."
Q: Can you explain the technology at work here?
Collard: "Claes filed a patent at Scripps in 2005 and we have the exclusive license on it. We're really working with one specific aspect of the patent, which is (exploiting a cell's) ability to make more proteins. Most drugs do the opposite right now — they make less of something. Like LDL cholesterol.
It's a method of amplifying something the body makes that is needed. It opens up a new world.
We have filed a number of patents since then on potential treatments for type-two diabetes, heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's."
Q: So how far along are things?
Collard: "We are working on our first animal studies. Our first drug candidates will probably be for heart disease and type-two diabetes. In essence these are proof-of-concept for the class of control mechanisms. We are quickly switching over to raising capital."
Q: How will you raise money?
Collard: "The money for the business model follows three prongs. We're looking for donations from foundations set up to support novel cures. The U.S. government through research grants has money they're putting into this, and pharma has a lot of interest. And there's also some room for investment."
Q: I understand you've been hiring locally?
Collard: "Including consultants, we have six people. One from Florida Atlantic University's honors college, and we have interns from Palm Beach Community College's biotechnology program. I feel great about the team, I feel great about the availability of talent from PBCC and from FAU."
Q: How much have you invested, and how risky is this?
Collard: "Probably about $500,000. All this stuff is unproven, but it's working in the labs. Even at clinical trials, the failure rate is huge, and we're not even there. But the fact is that this mechanism is so novel ... the potential is amazing. We started this with no specific applications and now we have a number of very interesting applications, so I feel great about it."
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/
local_news/epaper/2009/02/26/scripps022709.html
Palm Beach Post, Feb. 21st, 2009
Scripps opening guarantees growth, innovation in time of economic contraction
"...In another wing, Dr. Claes Wahlestedt, director of Central Nervous System Discovery, found that genetic material once dismissed as "junk DNA" plays an important role in the progression of Alzheimer's disease. This "junk DNA" - actually RNA - also helped him identify a new gene that's involved in Fragile X syndrome, a leading cause of mental retardation."
Palm Beach Post, Feb. 19th, 2009
Five breakthroughs already at Scripps Florida
"Making sense of Alzheimer's disease -
Most scientists now agree that Alzheimer's disease results from the build-up of a sticky plaque called beta amyloid. Understanding how this plaque is produced and why it accumulates in the brain may well be the key to stopping Alzheimer's.
Scripps Professor Dr. Claes Wahlestedt, director of Central Nervous System Discovery, and colleagues, have found that genetic material once dismissed as "junk DNA" plays an important role in the progression of the disease, and may help explain why beta amyloid accumulates in those ill with Alzheimer's. "
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/business/content/
local_news/epaper/2009/02/19/scrippsbreakthrus.html
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