Mixture Sciences, Inc. (MSI), San Diego, Announces the Renewal of a CRADA with the Neuroimmunology Branch, NINDS, NIH.

Mixture Sciences, Inc. (MSI), San Diego, and the Neuroimmunology Branch, NINDS, NIH have renewed a successful cooperative research and development agreement, CRADA, that began in 1998. The ultimate goal of this CRADA is to develop a means of identifying antigen specificities of T cell clones derived from joint fluid in chronic Lyme arthritis, peripheral blood- or cerebrospinal fluid lymphocytes from multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, as well as from other inflammatory disease conditions. The joint project uses combinatorial peptide libraries in the positional scanning format (PS-SCL) in conjunction with bioinformatics approaches to identify specificities of novel antigens.

Mixture Sciences, Inc. (MSI), San Diego, and the Neuroimmunology Branch, NINDS, NIH have renewed a successful cooperative research and development agreement, CRADA, that began in 1998. The ultimate goal of this CRADA is to develop a means of identifying antigen specificities of T cell clones derived from joint fluid in chronic Lyme arthritis, peripheral blood- or cerebrospinal fluid lymphocytes from multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, as well as from other inflammatory disease conditions. The joint project uses combinatorial peptide libraries in the positional scanning format (PS-SCL) in conjunction with bioinformatics approaches to identify specificities of novel antigens.

To date the CRADA has been extraordinarily successful and reached not only the primary research goals, but has furthermore established novel methodologies to identify the target antigens in a variety of disorders in which T cells are involved. These included multiple sclerosis, Lyme disease, as well as tumor immunology and more basic aspects of T cell immunology. For example under this CRADA a recently patented technique that combines the use of PS-SCL and bioinformatics approaches has opened broad new opportunities for the identification of target antigens in the above and other immunologically relevant conditions. Furthermore, this strategy is applicable to any receptor-ligand interaction that follows similar rules as those involved in T cell antigen recognition.

Dr. Roland Martin Chief of the Cellular Immunology Section, Neuroimmunology Branch, NINDS, at the NIH, remarked, The collaboration between our laboratory and Mixture Sciences has been extraordinarily successful and led to a number of important discoveries in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases as well as in tumor immunology. I am confident that our continuing studies will broaden our knowledge in these areas further in the future and that some of our findings will be applicable to new treatment strategies."

The CRADA has officially been extended until December 22, 2004.

Mixture Sciences, Inc., www.mixturesciences.com, a privately-held biotechnology company, specializes in biomedical research and drug discovery. We use a combination of proprietary and in-licensed technologies for the discovery of therapeutic and diagnostic candidates for the treatment of HIV/AIDS, cancer, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and infectious diseases, including Lyme Disease. Our technologies have been validated and used by members of the academic and corporate community over the past decade.

Our success comes from being a worldwide leader in the use of mixture-based chemical libraries. Our unique position allows us to provide our collaborators exceptional technologies and expertise. Mixture Sciences, Inc. is committed to developing, improving, patenting and in-licensing new technologies in order to provide our collaborators with the most cost efficient methods for identifying ligands.