Hong Kong Baptist University R&D Licensing Limited
HKBU encompasses eight Faculties/Schools offering a range of undergraduate programmes, associate degrees and higher diploma programmes as well as taught postgraduate programmes and research postgraduate programmes leading to the award of master and doctoral degrees. It prides itself on its dual focus on teaching and research and encourages service to society among its staff and students. One of the area of strengths at HKBU is in health and wellness, where we have a world-leading School of Chinese Medicine and Pharmacology.
At TechInnovation 2021, we are presenting a series of innovations and solutions for the betterment of your health and wellness.
Our Technology Offers
Treatment for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Diseases
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a functional gastrointestinal disorder that is painful and difficult to cure. The symptoms of the disease are characterized by abdominal pain, bloating, alteration of bowel habits and stool patterns. These symptoms can be chronic or occasional and are without morphological and biochemical abnormality.
IBS patients are mainly young and middle-aged people. It is twice as common in women than in men. Epidemiological studies have reported that about 14% of the men population and 27% of the women population in the US present the symptoms of IBS. In Hong Kong, the statistics are about 13% and 21% of the men and women population respectively. IBS is one of the most common causes for visits in General Health Care and Gastroenterology outpatient clinics.
To date, there is no cure for IBS. There are several basic treatments for relieving IBS symptoms, including traditional chemical medication, dietary adjustments and psychotherapy. Lubiprostone, alosetron, rotundine, belladonna sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim tablets are medications commonly used for managing IBS symptoms. However, these medicines exhibit strong side effects.
Alzheimer's Disease Treatment by Using Modified Chinese Medicine Formulation
The impact of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) on society is one of the biggest global challenges as it adversely affects the quality of life of patients. This irreversible disease also poses tremendous physical, emotional, and financial burdens to their family, the community medical system, and the entire social economy.
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a few prescription drugs (i.e. Aricept® (donepezil), Exelon® (rivastigmine), Razadyne® (galantamine) and Namenda® (memantine)) for the treatment of AD. These prescription drugs can help reduce or delay some symptoms, but not cure AD.
The possible side effects of these drugs range from mild symptoms that include nausea, vomiting, headache, diarrhoea, loss of appetite, to severe symptoms that include slow heartbeat, heart block, gastrointestinal bleeding and ulcers. As stated in the 2012 Consumer Reports, the monthly medication cost of these prescription drugs is around US$200 to US$400 per AD patient.
In light of this, the technology provider has invented a patented formulation by modifying the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) formulation, Huang-Lian-Jie-Du-Tang (HLJDT, 黃連解毒湯).
The technology provider’s research findings prove that the modified HLJDT (HLJDT-M) can reduce the accumulation of protein plaques and fibrous nodules (i.e. amyloid β-peptide (Aβ) and tau aggregates) in the brain that leads to rapid death of neurons and deterioration of brain function. HLJDT-M has given more significant therapeutic and pharmacological effects in treating AD with low cost and extremely low side effects.
Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease Using Corynoxine B
Neurodegeneration is featured by abnormal protein aggregations in the central nervous system. Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease that is characterized by the formation of alpha-synuclein (α-Syn) positive aggregates in the dopaminergic neurons. PD affects 1.5% of the global population over 65 years of age. In China, there are two million PD patients, accounting for 40% of PD cases worldwide. Global data analysis showed that in 2011, the global PD therapeutics market including key markets, US, Japan, Germany, UK, France, Italy, Spain, Brazil, China, India and Russia, was estimated to worth $2,992 million. The market size was primarily driven by two key parameters: rising PD prevalence due to the increase in the aging population in these key markets, and the increasing costs of therapy. The global PD therapeutics market is expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 12.6% and is forecasted to reach $11.5 billion by 2029.
Macroautophagy (autophagy) plays an important role in maintaining proper neuronal function by removing damaged or abnormally modified proteins (including toxic protein aggregates) in neurons. Targeting the autophagic pathway for the degradation of pathogenic protein aggregates has emerged as a novel and promising strategy for the treatment of PD.
The present invention introduces an autophagy enhancement compound, Corynoxine B (Cory B). Cory B can enhance autophagy by promoting the degradation of α-Syn in a Beclin-dependent manner. This can prevent the accumulation of toxic protein aggregates in treating neurodegenerative diseases such as PD and Alzheimer's disease.
