WSU forms partnership with Michigan Technology & Research Institute

Wayne State University is partnering with the Michigan Technology & Research Institute to create a drug-development company focused on a key molecule that could help treat depression and possibly other ailments.

The Ann Arbor-based institute is taking advantage of research developed by Dr. Aloke Dutta, a professor of pharmaceutical sciences at Wayne State's College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. The idea is to help create drugs and therapies that can combat ailments like depression and more, such as obesity and neuropathic pain.

"It can be used in a number of ways," Dutta says. "We still don't know the full potential of this molecule."

He points out that current treatments for depression don’t address dopamine component and how it targets relevant parts of the brain. His recently-discovered polyfunctional molecules interact simultaneously with norepinephrine, serotonin and dopamine systems in the brain and exhibit activity in animal models that indicate antidepressant activity.

He expects it will take 6-8 years of research and clinical trails to bring the molecule to commercialization and FDA approval.

Source: Aloke Dutta, professor of pharmaceutical sciences at Wayne State University
Writer: Jon Zemke