Researchers from the biology department of the University of Gdansk with a new European patent. The patent relates to a method of treating Huntington’s disease – a severe genetic disorder that runs with neurodegenerative processes and very severe symptoms. The invention offers hope for a drug that will slow down or inhibit the disease.
Huntington’s disease has an incidence of about 1 in 15,000 people in developed countries and is a major economic burden due to the high cost of patient care. To date, there is no effective treatment for it.
“In our study, we have shown that the chemical compound covered by the patent results in a reduction of toxic protein levels in cells from patients with Huntington’s disease in a cellular model of the disease and in an animal model (mice). Furthermore, we obtained a definite improvement, and even normalisation, of the behaviour of mice with Huntington’s disease after application”, says Prof. Dr. Grzegorz Węgrzyn of the research team.
