By ROBERT BARBA
robert.barba@scripps.com
May 7, 2007
Eugene Levin will be here Tuesday looking for $1.4 million so that he can help people see. The scientist from Torrey Pines Institute of Molecular Studies will ask Treasure Coast investors to fund his spin-off company, developing a treatment for a blinding illness known as wet macular degeneration.
Levin is one of two Torrey Pines scientists, along with a third from the University of California, San Diego, speaking at the Angel Investment Forum of Florida's Treasure Coast chapter meeting. They represent the first wave of research tying this region to the institute. Levin's style of basic research with possible real-life implications is the sort of science Torrey Pines President Richard Houghten has promised to bring to Port St. Lucie starting this summer. Last week Torrey Pines announced it has hired its first three senior scientists that will launch the San Diego-based center's Florida operation.
"In Florida, our scientists will have one foot in each camp of basic research and practical discovery," Houghten said. "Their job is to do solid science, but with a look toward how this could be useful."
Levin discovered his possible treatment while researching the Fibroblast Growth Factor protein. In one size of the protein, Levin found it did some important things: inhibited cell movement and stimulated cells to divide.
From the way bodies develop, wounds heal and diseases spread, cell movement affects nearly every facet of life.
"It was one of those instances in which you try something and are shocked to find out that it works differently than you actually thought," said Levin.
Levin needed to separate the part that stops cells from the one that makes them grow. In molecular biology, scientists can clip out functions they don't need.
Originally, Levin thought his finding could be useful in treating cancer. With every research center and big pharmaceutical company searching for a blockbuster cancer drug, he ultimately decided it might be too tangled and competitive. Instead, he started looking into a form of macular degeneration that primarily affects the elderly.
In macular degeneration, abnormal blood vessels grow in the retina, which is in the back of the eye. The growth diminishes the vision of macula, which is responsible for direct sight.
There are two forms of macular degeneration, dry and wet. The dry form affects more people and has few treatments. The wet form is less common but more severe and accounts for 90 percent of all macular degeneration-related blindness, according to The Eye Digest, an online publication of the University of Illinois.
Levin said his possible treatment fits well with macular degeneration because the eye is a closed organ, meaning that there is less worry about side effects.
In animal testing, Levin said the injected treatment has shown "substantial reduction" in the abnormal blood vessel growth.
If Levin finds local funding, his company Motility Inc. could be one of the first biotech firms in the region.
"It all starts with a question. Cell migration is one of the fundamental science questions," Houghten said. "And Gene (Levin) is a perfect example that sometimes you come up with something that can be useful."
RESEARCH AT TORREY PINES
Scientists at Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies investigate what causes diseases, how they work and how to treat or prevent them. Areas of research include heart disease, cancer, diabetes, pain, bioterrorism, multiple sclerosis, HIV/AIDS and immunology.
• Joanna Davies, an immunologist, is investigating cancer and the corresponding wasting of muscles, known as cachexia.
• Vipin Kumar's company, GlycoRegimmune, is developing new ways to treat auto-immune diseases, including AIDS and Alzheimer's. GlycoRegimmune will present Tuesday at the Angel Investment Forum of Florida meeting.
• Clemencia Pinilla, an immunologist, is investigating vaccinations against possible bio-terrorist threats.
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