Technology Overview

Dr. Corey and his colleagues have discovered that Interleukin-17c, previously only known as a cytokine, is secreted by keratinocytes during HSV infection and acts as a neurotrophic factor for neural cells. They demonstrated for the first time, that IL-17c can promote neural cell survival, neural growth, and axon guidance. Use of IL-17c as a novel neurotrophic factor can be applied to treat neurodegenerative disorders, for example, neuropathies in the peripheral nervous system that cause weakness, paralysis, numbness or pain. Treatment using IL-17c can be applied to a vast array of patients experiencing neuropathies including those caused by diabetes, autoimmune disorders, tumors, heredity, infections, chemotherapy, medications, toxins, and trauma.

Applications

• Neurodegenerative disorders
• Peripheral neuropathies
• Neuropathic pain
• Diabetic patients

Advantages

• Promote neural cell survival
• Neural growth
• Axon guidance

Patent Information

WO 2017007960

Market Overview

Peripheral neuropathies affect 20 million people in the U.S. Approximately 30% of peripheral neuropathies are caused by diabetes. Neuropathic pain market in the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and Japan was $6.3 billion in 2012.

Investigator Overview

Larry Corey, PhD, Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division