Award to Itel telecommunications © Itel
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The Itelpharma radiopharmaceutical company, a division of the Itel Telecomunicazioni group, as part of the wide program of initiatives implemented in over 10 years of activity and aimed at the constant support of research, in collaboration with the main universities and public and private institutions in scientific character in Italy and in the world, announces the donation of a research grant in favor of the Research Group of the University of Bari coordinated by Professor Antonio Scilimati of the Department of Pharmacy – Pharmaceutical Science, currently working on an important experimental project that aims to identify and develop an innovative cure for a severe brain tumor affecting children in pediatric age, by the name of “Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma” (Dipg).
The professor. Scilimati has long been engaged in the preparation of biopharmacologically active compounds for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases affecting central organs such as the brain, with particular attention to pathologies still in search of therapeutic solutions. For the realization of the “DIPG Project”, the research team made up of Scilimati made use of the collaboration of Prof. Savina Ferorelli who coordinates the synthesis and preparation of new compounds, together with the PhD student Antonella Centonze, recipient of the Research Grant devolved by the Itelpharma company. The potential new drugs are then bio-pharmacologically characterized by Prof. Maria Grazia Perrone together with the Research Fellow Dr. Morena Miciaccia.
Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (Dipg) is a “rare” primary brain tumor that develops in the brain stem mainly in children with an average age of 6-7 years. It represents 10% of all pediatric cancers and manifests itself with balance alterations, difficulty in moving one half of the body associated with strabismus, paresis of the muscles of the face, difficulty in swallowing. The survival of affected children is, to date, very low: generally 16-24 months, regardless of the treatment received.
The therapeutic strategy identified by the Research Project for the treatment of the Dipg, which is being carried out in Puglia, is the use of modulators of the activity of a human enzyme called Caseynolitic Protease P (ClpP). It is a proteolytic enzyme (it breaks down proteins) located in the mitochondria (the energy units of the cells) whose main task is to eliminate misfolded proteins, the accumulation of which could cause cellular malfunctions and therefore also the onset of the tumor.
The Group of Researchers has already prepared several molecules in the laboratory, potential modulators of ClpP activity. Soon, these compounds will be subjected to pharmacological analysis to verify their activity, in particular their ability to cross the blood brain barrier and reach the central nervous system. After a first “in vitro” evaluation, the best pharmacological preparations will be tested to verify their safety and efficacy “in vivo” with pre-clinical models that will allow their safe use in children affected by the disease.
The Research Group of Professors Scilimati-Ferorelli-Perrone has opened, in the meantime, to various national and international collaborations, including the Pediatric Oncology of the Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome and the University Hospital-Ospedali Riuniti of Ancona, the University of Washington, the Kinderspital in Zurich, UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital, UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences, and the Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute of the University of California, San Francisco. To support the “DIPG Project” and the research for a cure for pediatric cancer of Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma, a public crowdfunding campaign was recently launched on the initiative of the non-profit association “Progetto GAIA”, founded by parents of children under treatment. at the Oncohematology department of the Salesi Hospital in Ancona.
For Itelpharma, Research and Development are activities strictly related to production, an inseparable combination that has been the basis of the Itel group’s philosophy and mission for over 40 years. The spirit of innovation animates and guides every goal in the direction of an opportunity of shared value and progress. The contribution to discovery in the fields of science and medicine is an objective that guides all the choices and all company initiatives. Never as in this historical moment has the importance of keeping the public and private systems firmly emerged and of a virtuous and synergistic collaboration between the health system, the scientific and medical community and the companies in the sector, in particular the pharmaceutical sector. and this is Itelpharma’s commitment. Investing in research means knowing how to respond to people’s health needs, anticipating possible responses and identifying effective and safe solutions, with the aim of improving the living conditions of patients.
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