Sometimes a drug is created at NYU, and even though it doesn’t make it to market, the University still benefits. That was the case with a compound that was developed to treat Alzheimer’s Disease more than a decade ago.
The compound, which was known by its patent number (5,948,763) was a novel platform for the treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease and was developed in the lab of Blas Frangione, M.D., Ph.D., head of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center with his colleague Claudio Soto-Jara. Dr. Frangione’s and Dr. Soto-Jara’s research was funded by Axonyx, a pharmaceutical company based in New York City. The patented compound that came out of Dr. Frangione’s lab was brought into clinical trials by Axonyx. NYU received stock in Axonyx in return for the license of Dr. Frangione’s patent, which ultimately went public in 2004.
Axonyx was ultimately successfully acquired by TorreyPines Therapeutics Inc. in 2006.
