Glial Growth Factor (GGF2)

Glial Growth Factor 2 (GGF2) is known to stimulate the growth and differentiation of a variety of cells including glial cells, the support cells of the nervous system. These glial cells form the myelin sheath that insulates nerve cells and is essential for their survival and proper functioning. In demyelinating diseases such as multiple sclerosis, the myelin sheath is damaged, leading to the degeneration of nerve cells. Pre-clinical studies performed by paion’s cooperation partner Acorda, US, have demonstrated that GGF2 can stimulate the cell growth necessary to protect and regenerate a damaged myelin sheath. GGF2 is the lead neuregulin in Acorda’s portfolio. Neuregulins have shown the ability to restore cardiac function in preclinical models of heart failure caused by myocardial infarction, rapid pacing, viral and chemically induced cardiomyopathies.

The IND (Investigational New Drug) application for GGF2 filed with the FDA by Acorda early 2010 for the indication of heart failure has been approved. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) has awarded a USD 1 million Cardiac Translational Research Implementation Program (C-TRIP) grant to Acorda and its collaborator Vanderbilt University Heart and Vascular Institute to support the early phase clinical research on GGF2. In December 2010 a Phase I study was started.