Oxford BioMedica Gets Grant To Test Lou Gehrig's Disease Drug

1st Jul 2010 07:56

LONDON (Dow Jones)--Biotechnology company Oxford BioMedica PLC (OXB.LN) Thursday said it received a grant from a charity to fund early-stage development of an experimental drug for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a form of motor neurone disease commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Oxford BioMedica said it teamed up with researchers at Belgium's VIB Vesalius Research Center to carry out laboratory tests of MoNuDin, an experimental medicine for the condition. The work is being funded by a GBP255,000 grant from the U.K. Motor Neurone Disease Association. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a progressive and ultimately fatal neurogenerative disease. MoNuDin is designed to protect cells subject to degeneration by delivering them a protective gene. Last week, Oxford BioMedica said it teamed up with scientists in Wales to test its experimental cancer vaccine TroVax as a treatment for mesothelioma, a cancer linked to asbestos exposure. -By Jason Douglas, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-20-7842-9272; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 01, 2010 02:56 ET (06:56 GMT)