A gene-based therapy is on the way to reduce the suffering of at least a third of migraine sufferers with India's Avesthagen licensing a gene-based solution develop by Prof Lyn Griffiths and team at the Genomics Research Center of Australia's Queensland University of Technology (QUT).
Bangalore-based Avesthagen will test the vitamin based therapy developed by Australian researchers on India's dwindling Parsi population through its Avestagenome project of mapping the community and introduce the therapy in India and elsewhere soon.
Said Prof Griffiths who is also executive director of QUT's Institute of Health and Biomedical Institute: " At IHBI we are getting a great understanding of genetic make up and disease susceptibility because of expertise in genome and transcriptome analysis. We need Avesthagen's inputs to turn that into a therapy that people around the world can trust and use."
The collaboration announcements was made during the ongoing BIO Philadelphia, the annual biotechnology meeting.
The therapy targets a specific gene linked to aura, a deliberate type of migraine involved in neurological disturbance and blurry vision. This particular type affects about 30 per cent of migraine sufferers. The Australian researchers tested the use of a specific type of Vitamin B to mitigate the suffering.
" We have been able to finally come together with QUT team on this important problem and opportunity to understand migraine better and take the lab to the bedside. The diagnosis of a particular marker linked to a therapy is unique and we are excited to bring the technology to the Indian diaspora and provide diagnosis for the neglected migraine," said Dr Villoo Morawala-Patell, chairman of Avesthagen.Avesthagen has been focused on genomics research since it was founded 15 years ago and the Australian team has been researching on migraine for the past 20 years.
