CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Oct. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN)
and Boston Children's Hospital today announced that they have
entered into a neuroscience research collaboration aimed at
identifying novel pain targets based on human genetic analyses. The
one-year collaboration will focus on patients with genetic
anomalies of pain sensitivity. Amgen will leverage its
industry-leading expertise in genetic target identification and
validation and will have access to Boston Children's Hospital's
Division of Pain Medicine to identify patients with abnormal pain
conditions. Amgen and Boston Children's Hospital will collaborate
to validate the genetic findings as potential pain targets.
"Traditional approaches to analgesic drug discovery have been
pretty disappointing during the past 20 years," says Charles Berde, M.D., Ph.D., chief of the
Division of Pain Medicine in the Department of Anesthesiology,
Perioperative and Pain Medicine at Boston Children's Hospital. "The
most innovative biotech companies have realized that they need to
pursue new directions for drug discovery. Patients with unusual
patterns of increased or decreased pain responsiveness can offer
important clues in this pursuit."
"Amgen is pleased to enter into this collaboration as it
underscores our extensive investment and expertise in pursuing
targets that have clear genetic support," said John Dunlop, Ph.D., vice president of
Neuroscience Research at Amgen. "We look forward to working with
Boston Children's Hospital to explore novel pain targets that will
potentially include new non-addictive approaches to treating pain
in patients."
The agreement brings Amgen, a world leader in human genetic
target validation, together with Boston Children's Hospital's
Division of Pain Medicine, the first and most active pediatric pain
program in the world, and its Manton Center for Orphan Disease
Research. Both organizations have leading researchers in
neuroscience and genomics, including Michael Costigan, Ph.D., of the F.M. Kirby
Neurobiology Center and Catherine
Brownstein, M.P.H., Ph.D., in the Division of Genetics and
Genomics and scientific director of the Manton Center for Orphan
Disease Research.
Boston Children's Hospital's Division of Pain Medicine treats
patients with rare conditions that make them strikingly insensitive
to pain or, conversely, hypersensitive to pain or apt to experience
pain spontaneously, with no apparent stimulus.
As part of the collaboration, the teams will study patients with
the following pain syndromes:
- genetic disorders that diminish pain sensitivity;
- erythromelalgia, a condition causing intense, burning pain in
the extremities;
- paroxysmal extreme pain disorder, a condition characterized by
skin flushing and severe pain attacks in various parts of the body;
and
- hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathy.
About Amgen
Amgen is committed to unlocking the
potential of biology for patients suffering from serious illnesses
by discovering, developing, manufacturing and delivering innovative
human therapeutics. This approach begins by using tools like
advanced human genetics to unravel the complexities of disease and
understand the fundamentals of human biology.
Amgen focuses on areas of high unmet medical need and leverages
its expertise to strive for solutions that improve health outcomes
and dramatically improve people's lives. A biotechnology pioneer
since 1980, Amgen has grown to be one of the world's leading
independent biotechnology companies, has reached millions of
patients around the world and is developing a pipeline of medicines
with breakaway potential.
For more information, visit www.amgen.com and follow us on
www.twitter.com/amgen.
About Boston Children's Hospital
Boston Children's
Hospital is home to the world's largest research enterprise based
at a pediatric medical center, where its discoveries have benefited
both children and adults since 1869. More than 1,100 scientists,
including seven members of the National Academy of
Sciences, 11 members of the Institute of Medicine
and 10 members of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute
comprise Boston Children's research community. Founded as a 20-bed
hospital for children, Boston Children's today is a 415-bed
comprehensive center for pediatric and adolescent health care.
Boston Children's is also the primary pediatric teaching affiliate
of Harvard Medical School.
For more, visit
our Vector and Thriving blogs and follow
us on our social media channels: @BostonChildrens, @BCH_Innovation,
Facebook and YouTube.
CONTACT: Amgen, Massachusetts
Jennifer Bianco, 401-392-8815
(media)
CONTACT: Boston Children's Hospital
Erin Tornatore, 617-919-3110
(media)
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SOURCE Amgen