On March 15, an agreement was reached by XMU and Anhui New Star Medicine Development Co., Ltd (hereinafter New Star) in Xiamen. The interdisciplinary research team led by Prof. Deng Xianming and Prof. Zhou Dawang from the School of Life Sciences, XMU (hereinafter SLS) has licensed the New Star to develop Kinases MST1 and MST2 (MST1/2) inhibitor which can augment tissue repair and regeneration on payment of royalties. Both the two professors are also with the Innovation Center for Cell Signaling Network, State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology and State-Province Joint Engineering Laboratory of Targeted Drugs from Natural Products.

Attending the signing ceremony were the delegates of the New Star company, including Mr. Li Xiaoxiang, Director of the board, Mr. Li Degang, Vice-general manager, Mr. Jiang Genling, Project Manager. Attendees on the side of XMU included Mr. Chen Guang, President Assistant of XMU, Party secretary of SLS, Mr.Lu Huogui, Vice-general manager of the XMU Asset Management Co., Ltd, Prof. Lin Shengcai , Dean of SLS, Prof. Zhou Dawang, Deputy Dean of SLS, Prof. Li Bo’an, Prof. Deng Xianming, Deputy Director of the Lab of the Pharmaceutical Engineering, as well as the members on the research team.

In August, 2016, the research team published their findings that XMU-MP-1 could augment tissue repair and regeneration in the top-notch journal Science Translational Medicine of AAAS (read the article at http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/8/352/352ra108). Given the frequency of disease-induced and accidental tissue damages, there is therefore a great clinical need for drugs that can facilitate the regeneration and recovery of the tissues. This research provides a novel approach to potentiate tissue repair and regeneration, with XMU-MP-1 as the first lead for the development of targeted regenerative therapeutics.

Their discovery, since its publication, has drawn strong interests from pharmaceutical companies across the country including the New Star, which was finally selected as their partner after rounds of negotiations. This collaborative project to develop the novel first-in-class targeted drugs has showcased the confidence and strength of the pharmaceutical companies and research staff of China as they took up the high-stakes challenge to invent new drugs. Their success will bode well for the patients with damaged livers and the ones who need a transplant.

This successful transfer of the technology could be attributed to the strong support of Innovation Center for Cell Signaling Network, it is also a testament to the robust capacity of the State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology and State-Province Joint Engineering Laboratory of Targeted Drugs from Natural Products in the field of the basic research of biomedicine and industrial transformation. These national platforms have provided a great momentum to the “feet-on-the-ground” research as well as the development of bio-pharmaceutical industries of Xiamen and the western coast of Taiwan Straits.

School of Life Sciences, XMU

By Cao yijie

Edited by Fan Zhilong, Long Jin

      Source: http://news.xmu.edu.cn/1a/ec/c1552a269036/page.htm?winzoom=1