institution can’t afford to take the
research to the next level.
In 2007, the National MS
Society decided to think differently and act boldly by creating
a drug development subsidiary
empowered to jump in on these
missed opportunities and propel
promising candidates for MS
therapy through the drug development process.
This move heralded the Society’s entrance into the world of
“venture philanthropy”—taking
concepts and techniques from
venture capital finance and high
technology business management
and applying them to achieving
philanthropic goals.
The Society consulted with
other organizations that had
developed similar programs,
particularly the Cystic Fibrosis
Foundation, or CFF. CFF’s
drug development subsidiary,
CF Foundation Therapeutics,
Inc., invested $75 million in
VX-770, developed by Vertex
Pharmaceuticals. Early next year,
Vertex is applying to the FDA
for approval of VX-770. It may
be the first drug to treat the root
cause of cystic fibrosis—and a
signal success for the field of
venture philanthropy.
PAUL TAyLOR/GE T Ty IMAGES
Fast Forward hopes to replicate this success for people with
MS, and is taking its cues from
topnotch advisors. These include
leading MS clinicians and
scientists, business development
professionals, venture capitalists,
chief executive and operational
officers from biotechnology
So far 15 partnerships have
been supported, totaling
$4.5 million
companies, and corporate and
intellectual property attorneys.
At press time, Fast Forward is
funding 11 projects, for a total of
$3.7 million. Here are highlights:
Fast Forward has awarded a
grant to Canbex Therapeutics,
Ltd., a company launched by
researchers at University College
London. Canbex is developing a drug that alleviates muscle
spasticity in mice with an MS-like disease—without the sedation or mood alteration that can
occur in people using the current
treatments.
In each partnership agreement
with a company, Fast Forward
sets milestones that correspond
with funding distributions. In the
first phase of this collaboration,
Canbex focused on increasing
the quantities of the drug
that could be produced, so
that it could perform toxicology
studies in mice and then early
clinical trials in people. Quantity production is in place now,
triggering the second payment
from Fast Forward. Canbex is
proceeding with the toxicology
studies that are required before
clinical trials can begin in people
with MS.
Fast Forward is currently
pursuing several other new symp-
tomatic treatments to improve
function and quality of life in
people with MS; the subsidiary
requested proposals for MS
symptom therapeutic develop-
ment programs in 2011.
A drug that blocks
development of MS?
Fast Forward and the Juvenile
Diabetes Research Foundation
launched a collaborative partnership with Axxam SpA—a company spun out of Bayer AG that
is identifying compounds for use
in treating MS and diabetes.
Axxam is targetting “ion
channels,” tiny pores on the surface of certain cells–in this case,
human immune cells. Recent
studies have found that immune
cells involved in the immune
attacks in MS contain high
levels of the ion channel Kv1.3
and that hyperactivity of this
channel appears to contribute
