Toronto, ON (April 17th, 2015) - The Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC) at the University of Toronto and the Ontario Brain Institute (OBI) have entered into an “open-source” research partnership with two Toronto-based hospitals to test tool compounds, called chemical probes, against epigenetic proteins in research models of Rett syndrome.

The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and University Health Network (UHN) will receive OBI funding and compounds from SGC and will utilize their respective expertise and disease models to advance our understanding of this disease and identify potential treatments.  Due to the open-source nature of the partnership, researchers have agreed explicitly not to file for patents on any of the resulting discoveries related to the collaboration.

The SGC’s tool compounds are the product of a global public-private partnership that includes a network of researchers in hundreds of academic institutions and ten of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies. By specifically inhibiting a protein in a disease model, the chemical probes can be used to validate proteins as potential drug targets for that disease.

“We are delighted to collaborate with leading Rett investigators in top Canadian hospitals in order to learn more about the disease and hopefully come up with new treatment strategies,” said Dr. Aled Edwards, Director and CEO at SGC.

This new partnership folds into one of OBI’s key research initiatives—the Province of Ontario Neurodevelopmental Disorders (POND) Integrated Discovery Program. The multidisciplinary program brings together researchers, clinicians, industry partners, and patients and their advocates to take a new approach to addressing neurodevelopmental disorders including autism spectrum disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

“OBI is pleased to be a part of an exciting new partnership that fosters new collaborations among experts involved in the study and treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders like Rett Syndrome,” said Dr. Donald Stuss, President and Scientific Director, Ontario Brain Institute. “We believe that this kind of cooperation is precisely what is needed to maximize the value of important resources and drive discovery in novel ways.”

The collaboration to test the epigenetic chemical probes for Rett syndrome is part of a larger SGC Open Source Target Discovery Partnership with clinical hospitals that will focus on a range of diseases from neuroscience to oncology.

“This is a unique partnership that we are excited to be a part of. By leveraging the expertise, resources and innovations through the lab of our contributing researcher, Dr. James Eubanks, we hope to have progress against this disease in a way that will have an impact for patients and families that are affected by it,” said Dr. Donald Weaver, Director of the Toronto Western Research Institute, a member of UHN.

“Ontario is proud to support and encourage open source partnerships that help accelerate scientific discoveries from the lab to the marketplace and into patient treatments,” said Reza Moridi, Ontario Minister of Research and Innovation. “These collaborations will help lead to better health outcomes for people in Ontario and around the world, and further Ontario’s capacity to compete in a competitive global economy.”

In line with the SGC’s open access policy, results, tools and knowledge from the collaborative projects will be openly shared with the wider research communities without restrictions.