BioCentury
ARTICLE | Tools & Techniques

Angiogenesis agent shows healing properties

November 2, 1998 8:00 AM UTC

A compound in Phase I testing for cancer anti-angiogenesis shows exceptional promise as an all-around healer, allowing paralyzed mice to walk again. CarboMed Inc. (Nashville, Tenn.) has licensed the agent to Zeneca Group plc (London, U.K.) for cancer, but has retained the right to use the agent in other settings, such as acute spinal injury.

CM101, a polysaccharide isolated from group B streptococcus, is the agent responsible for neonatal lung injury and death from strep infections passed on by the mother at birth. In mice, as in humans, newborns retain for a few days the receptors from embryonic angiogenesis that allow strep to attach and attack...