Millenium Gains Patent for Obesity-Drug Screening Methods
The US Patent and Trademark Office has granted Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Cambridge, MA) a patent related to methods for identifying new drugs for the treatment of obesity and other weight disorders. The patent, "Screening Methods for Compounds Useful in the Regulation of Body Weight" (5,908,609), relates to the identification of weight-regulating therapeutics that modulate the melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4-r).
The MC4-r gene encodes a G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR). GPCRs span the cell membrane and provide key targets for therapeutic intervention by activating specific intracellular pathways. In 1996, Millennium scientists published evidence in the journal Cell indicating that mice with a non- functional MC4-r exhibit significant weight gain compared to littermates with a functional MC4-r.
The research that led to the invention covered under the patent was carried out under Millennium's strategic research alliance with Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. (Roche; Nutley, NJ). While Roche is pursuing the use of MC4-r for the identification of obesity therapeutics, Millennium retains the rights to use this technology for the discovery of compounds that induce weight gain.
Like all GPCR's, MC4-r regulates the physiologic behavior of the cell by blocking or transmitting signals from outside the cell through specialized proteins situated just inside the cell membrane. There are over 1,000 types of known GPCRs, and several have been implicated, or are suspected to play a role in diseases such as obesity, Alzheimer's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, hypertension, atherosclerosis, and certain cancers.
The company is pursuing a strategy to develop an obesity research program based on Millennium's six-year obesity and metabolic disease program that has successfully identified over a dozen genes involved in weight regulation. The company will pursue internal development as well as work on an exclusive basis with leading academic laboratories. Millennium may also seek a strategic partner in obesity research.
Millennium, a drug discovery and development company, employs large-scale genetics, genomics, high throughput screening, and informatics in an integrated science and technology platform. This drug discovery platform is applied across the healthcare sector, from gene identification to patient management, to accelerate and transform the discovery and development of proprietary therapeutic and diagnostic products and services.
For more information: Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc., 640 Memorial Dr., Cambridge, MA 02139. Tel: 617-679-7000 or 800-370-6925. Fax: 617-225-0884.