Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, as part of a multi-institution research team, received $4.8 million in life science funding from the National Cancer Institute as part of a five-year life science grant to research a way to target various diseases including Alzheimer’s, cancer and graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) by changing the function of an enzyme that sets in motion over 100 different protein substrates in the body.
“We are all interested in an enzyme called gamma secretase (GS),” says immunologist Barbara A. Osborne. “When it acts by cleaving or cutting proteins, many different substrates are activated, including a very important one called NOTCH1. Both Lisa and I have shown, first in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis, that NOTCH1 deregulation leads to many autoimmune diseases.”
Her colleague also working on the project, Lisa M. Minter, further explained that they believe blocking the GS would be useful in treating different diseases. By affecting its inhibition, they could stop overexpression of a substrate such as NOTCH1 and its variants in breast cancer, as one option, while not affecting its role in the immune system. The researchers have devised five years of experiments that will involve up to six graduate students working in two labs. (U.Mass Amherst)
Barbara A. Osborne
Image courtesy of U.Mass Amherst
As discussed in a recent UCSB Science Market Update Blog, the Alzheimer’s treatment market is growing at a fast pace. What was a $5.4 billion market in the U.S., Germany, Spain, Italy, France, Japan and the U.K. in 2010 is expected to nearly triple to $14.3 billion in 2020. (PharmaTimes) This is what Decision Resources predicts, saying that the launch of "novel agents that affect disease progression will transform the AD market, which is currently comprised solely of symptomatic therapies".
The cancer treatment market is also expected to experience significant growth. GMR Data predict that the worldwide cancer drugs and treatments market will reach $143.7 billion by 2023.
“The US spent $322bn on healthcare in 2011, GMR Data estimate that the US spent $31.8bn in the oncology market in 2012, capturing 40.5% of the market. 2nd to the US was Japan; spending $8.9bn in 2012, capturing 11.2%. The European mainstays of the pharmaceutical sector; the UK, Germany, France, Spain & Italy equated to 25% of the global oncology market in 2012.” (PR Newswire)
Lisa M. Minter
Image courtesy of U.Mass Amherst
The University of Massachusetts, Amherst receives a significant amount of life science funding in addition to this latest life science grant. In 2013, the NIH awarded the university $21.7 million. The top NIH-funded life science department is biochemistry, which has received $2.9 million so far this year. The departments of biology and microbiology also received $1.6 million and $274,452 respectively. The NSF awarded the University of Massachusetts, Amherst $44.3 million in life science funding in 2012. Given the number of life science grants, lab suppliers will want to make sure they get to know this institution.
If you are a lab supplier interested in marketing to researchers with life science funding at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Biotechnology Calendar, Inc. invites you to attend our Amherst BioResearch Product Faire™ Event on April 23rd, 2014. Make sure to register for this event by our early registration deadline of February 24th, 2014 and save on the cost of exhibiting.
Biotechnology Calendar, Inc. is a full-service science research marketing and events-planning company that has been organizing life science marketing events at top research institutions nationwide for over 20 years. If you’re interested in marketing to researchers with significant life science funding at universities, we encourage you to view our 2014 calendar of events. For more information on our Amherst BioResearch Product Faire™ Lab Product Expo, or to learn more about funding statistics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, click on the button below.