Anergen Inc. and the University of Medicine and Dentistry saidMonday that they entered into a research collaboration to evaluateAnergen's AnergiX technology for the treatment of inflammatorybowel disease.Kiron Das, chief of gastroenterology and professor of medicine at theuniversity's Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick,will head the research. Das and colleagues have identified intestinalproteins associated with the disease.Anergen, of Redwood City, Calif., will fund the research, whileintending to develop an AnergiX compound that will induce a state oftolerance in the specific T cells of the immune system responsible forthe disease.AnergiX is a peptide epitope of the appropriate antigen which isassociated with triggering an autoimmune response for a particulardisease. combined with a soluble form of major histocompatibilitycomplex class II, Joan Shields, director of administration for Anergen,told BioWorld.Shields said while inflammatory bowel disease is a new area forAnergen, Das' identification of the protein expedites the researchprocess.In August 1993, Anergen aligned with Novo Nordisk A/S of Denmarkto develop AnergiX therapies for multiple sclerosis (MS), myastheniagravis (MG) and Type I diabetes. Shields said Anergen hopes to fileinvestigational new drug applications for both MS and MG indicationsin 1995. _ Jim Shrine

(c) 1997 American Health Consultants. All rights reserved.