DOD AND BACH PHARMA RELEASE PHASE 1 REPORT DEMONSTRATING GVT® SHOWS CONSIDERABLE PROMISE FOR ALLEVIATING COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT AND MOOD DISFUNCTION CAUSED BY GWI
North Andover, MA, January 30, 2016 – The Department of Defense (DOD) and Bach Pharma recently announced that data collected from studies conducted by the Veterans Administration suggest that oral administration of GVT® has considerable promise for alleviating cognitive impairment and mood dysfunction in GWI rats. Gulf War Illness (GWI) is a chronic multi-symptom health problem which afflicts nearly 30{b4f08d363dd3b590b47f1fc18b02104aeb114e0ae1c67316d6092c20b26b737e} of veterans who served in the Persian Gulf War. Brain dysfunction, typified by memory dysfunction, depression and anxiety, is one of the major health issues in GWI. The full report is available on the DOD’s public website.
Bach’s lead candidate GVT® is a novel cytoprotective agent. GVT® has powerful anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and scavenges free radicals. GVT® has the ability to cross the blood-brain barrier and enter cells of the central nervous system, as well as to enter the immune system, thereby delivering therapeutic results to the gut, thymus, spleen and blood. GVT® is also able to cross the retinal-brain barrier.
Phase 1 results from the multi-year study discovered that SOD-2 (the gene that encodes mitochondrial superoxide dismutase 2 protein) was one of twenty culprits involved in Gulf War Illness. “Administered at high doses, GVT® reversed all of the SOD-2 damage done to the mitochondria of the neurons. In addition, GVT® also showed very positive results regarding SOD-1,” stated Bach’s Principal Investigator Professor Paul K.Y. Wong, PhD, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Smithville, Texas. The results suggest that mood impairment, particularly anhedonia (the inability to feel pleasure) as well as cognitive impairment pertaining to pattern separation, could be reversed with oral administration of moderate to high dose of GVT® in GWI rats. GVT® treatment modulates oxidative stress in the hippocampus of GWI rats. Furthermore, 20 genes that displayed increased expression in GWI rats were normalized to control levels with higher doses of GVT® treatment. In Phase 2 of this study the DOD will commence experiments involving the exposure of animals to Gulf War Illness-related (GWIR) chemicals and stress followed by GVT® treatment at extended time points after exposure.
When releasing the report the DOD announced “these are very interesting initial findings”.
George Hillman, Director of Business Development at Bach, stated “Bach is committed to working with the DOD and with the VA to improve the health care of all veterans and military personnel”.
This study was funded by the DOD, Bach Pharma, The Longevity Foundation and supported by college interns funded through the Massachusetts Life Science Center’s Internship Challenge program. Development of several of the protocols and all of the serum validation tests and data analysis on this phase of the program was completed at Merrimack College in North Andover, MA.
ABOUT BACH PHARMA
Bach Pharma, Inc., (BACH), a privately held research and development pharmaceutical company is a global leader in the discovery and commercialization of revolutionary therapeutics to treat life threatening diseases. BACH directs the development of therapies for degenerative neurological illnesses which can dramatically reduce the cost of global health care. Bach is a proud member of the MassBio Council and a host company for the Massachusetts Life Science Center Internship Challenge. Media Contacts: Mark Henry, CEO Telephone: 978-794-5510
Email: mhenry@bachpharma.com
www.bachpharma.com
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