UCF College of Medicine professor Dr. Saleh Naser soon will participate in a clinical trial to test whether a new antibiotic therapy acquired by RedHill Biopharma can be used to treat Crohn\u2019s disease patients.<\/p>\n
The FDA-approved phase III trial is expected to commence within weeks by RedHill Biopharma, which licensed Naser\u2019s DNA technology for detecting Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis, known as MAP. It is believed to be associated with Crohn\u2019s disease. RedHill Biopharma developed the anti-MAP antibiotic regimen known as RHB 104. Crohn\u2019s disease is a chronic inflammatory disease of the gastrointestinal tract characterized by cramping and diarrhea.<\/p>\n
Naser developed and patented a way to detect MAP from milk, blood and tissue clinical samples. The bacterium is known to cause inflammation in the intestines of cows. It is also linked to Crohn\u2019s disease, although its role has been debated for more than a century. Naser believes MAP is an underlying cause of the disease.<\/p>\n
\u201cCrohn\u2019s disease affects more than 750,000 Americans, yet traditional treatments only address the symptoms of inflammation and not the cause,\u201d Naser said. \u201cI have seen case studies where patients\u2019 lives have been restored following treatment, which removes MAP. I have high hopes that this clinical trial may lead to finding a cure.\u201d<\/p>\n
RedHill will be enrolling 240 subjects from the United States, Canada and Israel in this double blind clinical trial in which blood and intestinal biopsy specimens from Crohn\u2019s patients will be tested for MAP before, during and following the one-year treatment with the antibiotic RHB 104.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince we acquired the license to Dr. Saleh Naser\u2019s MAP detection technique in 2011, we have had an excellent collaboration with UCF,\u201d said RedHill\u2019s CEO Dror Ben-Asher. \u201cThe UCF team of researchers\u2026 is at the forefront of global academic research on MAP and its detection.\u201d<\/p>\n
Naser is looking forward to the trial and hopes this will end the academic debate regarding MAP and Crohn\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am ecstatic to be part of a team, which will help determine whether or not MAP is associated with Crohn\u2019s disease; certainly a final answer to a one hundred-year old controversy,\u201d Naser said.<\/p>\n
Naser joined UCF in 1995 and has been a faculty member in the medical college since its foundation. He teaches clinical chemistry and infectious processes in the Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences within the medical school. He also serves as the graduate coordinator for three masters programs in the College of Medicine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UCF College of Medicine professor Dr. Saleh Naser soon will participate in a clinical trial to test whether a new antibiotic therapy acquired by RedHill Biopharma can be used to treat Crohn\u2019s disease patients. The FDA-approved phase III trial is expected to commence within weeks by RedHill Biopharma, which licensed Naser\u2019s DNA technology for detecting Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis, known…","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":52937,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-twocol.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[6,17,23],"tags":[979,5660,202],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-52935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-medicine","category-research","tag-college-of-medicine","tag-saleh-naser","tag-alumni"],"yoast_head":"\n